Just Like Clockwork
by Silverflare07
Summary: [Kind of a re-inventing of the Ultimate Enemy for it's 10 year anniversary] Clockwork's game of cat and mouse has Danny racing through time to find Sam before it's too late. As he revisits their past, he learns some things about himself and his best friend. But will it be enough to save their future? Only time will tell. [Amethyst Ocean of course, how could I not?]
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so, um, wow has it been ages and ages since I've really posted anything at all. Or even really written anything for that matter. There's kind of a lengthy Author's Note that's attached to this first chapter, and I would really appreciate it if you guys would look it over really quickly before you get to the story. I promise you will never see another one of that length again. Well, I promise that you probably won't. I can't control everything, but this first one should take care of it.

 **Author's Notes:**

Have you ever had a really incredible idea and then realized that you weren't quite good enough yet to do it the justice it deserves? Because that is completely what happened with this story. I got the idea for this waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2005 before _The Ultimate Enemy_ even aired, back when we just had the basic plot and teasers for it. Even after it aired the plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone (although I will say it was more influenced by the episode than it had been originally). I had like 6 or 7 pages worth of notes in a notebook and the plot was complex and good and I was so excited about it, I even had four chapters written up and I just realized that I felt like I wasn't able to do it justice, like I really wanted to, so I promised myself I would work on getting better and come back to it.

But of course, time went on and I did get better, but DP ended and my interest in it mellowed and my mom accidentally threw out the notebook with all my notes in it and it just kind of became that thing I'd think about once in while, maybe reread the chapters I'd already had written and wonder about what could have been.

So flash forward to tens years later (I guess that's kind of ironic given what episode I'm writing about, but whatever) and I start rewatching Danny Phantom because it's on my Hulu and I can. And I'm inspired again and take a pen to paper and rewrite what I can remember about the notes I used to have and fill in the blanks where I can't and it's a little less complex then it used to be, but that's okay because there were probably plot holes big enough to drive a truck through in the other version.

Anyways, this basically came about because I have always been Danny/Sam shipper trash and loved them shamelessly and without end. And I always felt that the writers could have done so much with their relationship and Dan Phantom seeing Sam for the first time again and it would have just been a great way to explore Danny, Sam, and Tucker's past (and again, I'm Danny/Sam shipper trash so _my_ story is pretty much just going to focus on them. With some love for Tucker because, well, he's freaking awesome). There's a note on my profile page that says this story is influenced by the _Kim Possible_ minimovie _A Sitch in Time_ , but it's been _ages_ since I've seen that movie (damn, lol, something else to see if they have on my Hulu) so I couldn't honestly tell you how the original idea was influenced by it or if the newer version (which is really just a cleaned up version of the older one) is still influenced by it. So let's just say maybe.

Last thing (I promise), I do have this story completely planned out, but so far I only have the first chapter written. I was happily surprised by the life that's still in the Phandom (I'm totally going to ignore the joke in there) when I posted _Put a Sock On It_ a few days ago. It's just been so long that I thought for sure the fandom would be dead (again, going to ignore the joke here). Everything seemed to kind of fall into place and I figured it was time for me to write this. So I'm going to post this today (Saturday) just to make sure that this is something people would have interest in reading. It'll probably take me about a week to upload the next chapter so that I have some time to get a head in writing. After that I plan on updating more frequently.

Thanks for taking the time to read this ridiculously long note. It should (hopefully) be the only one you have to read. At least, the only long one.

P.S. I'd like to apologize for the god awful formatting of my last one-shot. It's been so long since I've uploaded anything that I forgot how royally FanFiction screws with the formatting if you just upload a file.

 **Update 10Oct15:** There was just a ridiculous amount of typos in this so I fixed them. Otherwise, not much else has changed.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

"It is not acceptable, Clockwork."

The elderly ghost turns away from the scene before him to face his two visitors, morphing into a young child as he does so. He is unsurprised to find himself face to eyeball with two Observers, dressed only in their long cloaks. He's been expecting them after all; he'd been expecting them since the beginning of time.

"You mean this?" Clockwork, shifting to the form of a young man, turns back to wave at the image playing on the face of his large clock.

A young African American woman flies over what is left of Amity Park and though the scene looks peaceful, her soldier haircut and tense shoulders say otherwise. She lands on a tower and the three ghosts watch as she opens a hatch and checks a computer screen, smiling in approval at what she sees.

"Amity Park is the only place in the human realm that exists in the future!" One of the Observers cries just as the scene zooms out to show the large blue force field that is surrounding the town. "And even that is about to crumble."

As he speaks, the walls of the force field start to shake and the young woman looks up in shock and horror as they slowly start to waver and flicker before finally disappearing completely.

Clockwork chuckles, still keeping his eyes on the scene playing out before him. It's utter chaos now, citizens running for whatever shelter they can find and the African American girl hopping back onto her hover board and taking for the skies. "I was unaware that you cared much for the going ons of the human realm."

The second of Observer crosses his arms and narrows his eye. "We don't. We care about the future of our realm. Of the Ghost Zone. And it seems to us that you should too!"

Now an old man once again, Clockwork ignores his two visitors and raises his staff towards the scene. It glows blue for just a moment before sound suddenly surrounds them and the image grows larger, encompassing most of the wall. "Let's just see, shall we?"

 _"Hello Valerie." A dark voice chuckles and the woman on screen scowls._

 _"You!" She hisses venomously, trying to keep her bearing while still searching for the invisible intruder._

 _"Of course me." The voice replies. "Who else were you expecting?"_

 _"How?" She raises herself up higher, lifting a gun to aim at where she knows the voice is coming from, even if she can't see it. "How did you get passed the ghost shield?"_

 _There's more laughter as a figure phases into existent in front of her, floating just high enough above her to flaunt the advantage he so obviously has. "Like my newest trick?" He taunts, brushing invisible lint off his shoulders. "I call it my ghostly wail." He smirks. "It's new. But incredibly effective."_

 _His opponent just narrows her eyes. "I'm not afraid of you! I wasn't afraid of you as a teenager, I wasn't afraid of you when you tried to destroy everything, and I'm certainly not afraid of you now!"_

 _"That's a shame," He sighs dramatically as he drops a few inches so that he's floating almost evenly with the ghost hunter. His red eyes narrow and he grins evilly, "Because you really should be."_

 _"Not going to happen, Phantom!" She growls before firing her weapon._

 _The ray passes through the suddenly intangible ghost harmlessly, but this doesn't seem to bother Valerie as she shifts her foot a few inches and steps down on the hidden switch of her hover board. Jets roar to life on the back of the board and she quickly flies away from the ghost._

 _"Got to get him away from the town." She mutters to herself. She looks around for a safer place before her gaze settles on what's left on Amity Park's only park. "Guess that'll do." She turns her head and sees that the ghost has lost interest in her, instead choosing to shoot ghost rays sporadically into the crowd of panicking civilians. She grimaces before stopping just long enough to taunt the villain. "Come on,_ Danny _! Catch me if you can."_

 _Phantom growls in rage, his eyes and flame like hair burning brightly in outrage. "Do. Not. Call me that._ Ever _!" He cries before turning his back on where the citizens are all still desperately trying to run for cover. He lunges after her, but she's already hit the button for her jets and is tearing off through the skies, moving away from him as fast as she possibly can._

 _"Good." She breathes a sigh of relief as she realizes he's giving chase. "I'm sure he knows what I'm doing, but I don't need to beat him." She frowns. "I don't know if I_ can _beat him. I just need to keep him distracted long enough for Dad to get the ghost shield back up and running._

 _She lands on the dead grass with a silent thump, her hover board retracting back into her suit. She searches the empty skies above her. "I don't see him," She looks down to study the scanner on her wrist, "but this thing has been locked onto his ecto signature since we were teenagers. And it says he's here in the park. Probably waiting to ambush me." She mutters darkly._

 _Still, she takes out a small but powerful looking gun and moves ahead slowly. She inches her way around the trunk of a large tree, one of the few that's still standing in the park, even if it is dead like everything else. The light on her scanner is blinking quickly, meaning she's closing in on her target._

 _"It's useless to hope for the element of surprise." She hoists her gun up as her brows furrow in determination. "But maybe I don't need it."_

 _She rounds the rest of the tree swiftly, pulling the trigger and firing before her opponent has any time to react. He goes down with a shriek of surprise and Valerie's eyes widen as she takes in the sight before._

 _"You!"_

Clockwork waves his staff once again and sound disappears as the image shrinks back down to fit onto the face of the large clock. He turns back to face his visitors, morphing from baby to young man as he does so. "Not what you were hoping to see, I assume."

The Observers narrow their respective eyes at him. "No." One states plainly. "Normally you would be correct. We don't particularly care about the going ons of the human realm."

"But this...this _Phantom_ is not only a threat to their realm. He is a threat to ours. He has unrightfully claimed-"

"He has _every_ right to that claim." Clockwork cuts off the second Observer sharply.

The other ghost shifts nervously for a second before nodding curtly. "Well, regardless, he is a danger and a terror to the ghost zone. He needs to be eliminated."

"But you can't just eliminate Danny _Phantom_." Clockwork shakes his head, already knowing the Observer's predicament. "Because that would leave a power vacuum that the Ghost Zone is incapable of handling. War would break out and spread everywhere. _Including_ the human realm. There wouldn't even be a safe place for the ghosts who didn't want to fight to hide. The Ghost Zone would crumble even faster in that future."

"Yes." The two Observers agree uneasily.

"And you can't eliminate Danny _Fenton_ ," the scene behind Clockwork shifts and it suddenly shows a dark haired, blue eyed boy chatting amiably with his two friends as they walk towards school, "Because otherwise you get this." The scene shifts back to the ghost from before, red eyes and hair blazing against the dark backdrop as he laughs cruelly.

The corners of Clockwork's mouth shift up as he turns to view the scene. "And what, exactly, do you expect me to do about it?"

"Clockwork..." The currently elderly ghost would almost have thought the Observer's were groaning in annoyance if they didn't consider themselves about silly human traits like that.

"Are you telling me," the tug at his lips turns into a full blown smirk as he turns back to face them, now a baby once again, "that you want me to meddle?"

This time, there's no denying the groan of annoyance that both ghosts give. But they must decide that their mission is more important than their annoyance at his gloating because they just look up at him and respond with a single: "Yes."

Clockwork's smile turns almost gleeful as he waves his staff and the image on the clock shifts from the future to the present where Danny Fenton is currently sprawled out on the grass of Amity Park's park with the rest of his class, eyes half open and clearly barely paying any attention to what is going on around him. His female friend jabs him the ribs, trying to get him to pay attention, but he just laughs and pokes her back playfully.

"I think," Clockwork lifts his staff, his change from baby to young man helping him reach the clock face as he gives it a gentle tap. It freezes on the image of Danny and his friend laughing, while the third member of their group is rolling his eyes, not even looking up from his PDA. "That I can figure something out."

"Whatever it is," one Observer mentions as he and his friend finally start to leave, "just be sure to do it quickly. It's only a matter of hours until-"

"Yes, I know!" He snaps in annoyance. "I am the ghost of time, after all." He ushers the two floating eyeballs out the door before returning to where the image of Danny and his friends is still frozen on his clock face.

"It's only a matter how hours for _you._ " He tells both the absent Observers and the boy on the screen. " _I_ , however, have all the time in the world. Now what," He asks himself with an almost cheeky grin, "am I going to do about you, young Daniel?"

* * *

Okay! Well that's it for chapter 1. We'll get to Danny, Sam, and Tucker in the next part, I swear. Leave a review if you feel up to it, I'd love to know what you guys think! And sorry about the title. But you can't give me a ghost called Clockwork and not expect a pun. (that's a warning. There will be at least one pun).


	2. Chapter 2

As promised, here is the second chapter, if a little bit late. I apologize for the delay, but I wanted the chance to get a head with my writing and get a few more chapters written so that you wouldn't have to wait so long between updates again. And I've gotten four chapters done and the weekend ahead of me to write more. So mission accomplished.

 **Author's Note:**

Also as promised, this author's note is significantly shorter than my previous one. Just real quick, I'm writing this with the assumption that, timeline wise, it's 2005 in Danny's present, which is the year that _The Ultimate Enemy_ came out. And since this _is_ a story dealing with TUE, I feel like it's not too much of a spoiler to inform you that it deals with time travel. That being said, all years past and present will be based off the idea that 14 year old Danny Fenton is a freshman in high school in the year 2005.

Sorry in advance for any typos. I read and reread the chapters after I've written them, but I always seem to miss some.

Also, kudos to anyone else who gets the joke with the book title Lancer yells to get everyone's attention. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

* * *

" _The Time Traveler's Wife,_ people! Listen up!" Mr. Lancer called once again, trying to gain his students attention. He's not terribly surprised when they do little more than blink at him once before turning back to their respective conversations.

It is a Saturday at the park after all. Even he can admit that he wouldn't have been paying much attention had the roles been reversed. Sighing, he tried a different tactic. "You know," He tries again to gain their attention, "The faster we get this done, the faster you can all return to your normal weekend routines."

This manages to catch most everyone's attention. They all turn to look at him, not exactly eager to get started, but definitely eager to get it finished so they can return to their normal routines of movies or shopping or whatever it was the young kids did these days. He doesn't quite have everyone's attention, but he figures this is about as good as it's going to get and he brings his hand down to pat the metal contraption that's sitting at his feet.

"A time capsule." He states simply and winces as one cheerleader actually blows a bubble of gum and pops it loudly. "A way to preserve memories for a future generation or to just remind a person of happy times in their past."

The students are listening, but just barely and the slightly overweight teacher figures it's probably just time to go in for the kill before he loses what little grasp on them that he has.

"As I'm sure you all know, in ten years times you'll be invited back to a reunion at Casper High. And your class is going to have a little extra incentive to return to the place that helped make you who're going to become." He gestures to the time capsule again. "You'll each be putting in the item that I asked you to bring with you today and, when you return for your reunion you'll be able to dig it up and open it. You'll be able to remember the kinds of things you found important today and see how or if they've changed over the course of ten years. Now... Mr. Baxter? Would you be so kind as to start us off?"

Dash stands up and shrugs his shoulders, shrugging out of his letterman jacket as he does so. "Sure thing, Mr. Lancer." The jock walks up to the vice principal and sets his jacket down in the time capsule at the other man's feet. "I'm putting in my letterman jacket because it symbolizes all the best things about high school."

Mr. Lancer nods his head at his student. "It certainly represents something about high school. That's quite a sacrifice you're making Mr. Baxter. And also a genuinely nice one."

The blonde shrugs again. "It's no big. I've got like ten more at home in my closet."

"Well..." Mr. Lancer doesn't quite know how or why the star quarterback got so many different jackets, but he still appreciates that the boy seems to have tried. "It was still a very thoughtful item. Ms Brighton, you're next."

Danny yawns as Dash makes his way back into the crowd and a petite red head hurries up. His eyes slip all the way shut, enjoying the way the sun shines pleasantly down on him. It's one of those rare Saturdays where no ghosts have decided to attack (yet, at least) and they'd all been pleasantly absent the night before as well. It's almost relaxing.

At least, it is until a sharp jab in his side brings him out of his peaceful moment. He cracks open one eye to find one of his best friends mock glaring at him. "Pay attention!" Sam hisses.

"Aw come on, Sam." He pokes the Goth girl back, laughing as she squirms slightly. He's the only person in the world who knows that she's ticklish and even though he's been sworn to secrecy, he still uses it to his advantage from time to time.

After all, he grins as Sam starts laughing too, it's the only way to get the very Gothic Samantha Manson to giggle. And he rather enjoys the sound, rare as it is.

Beside them, Tucker rolls his eyes, never taking them off the game he's playing on his PDA. If they want to be obnoxiously cute in the park, in full view of everyone around them, then that's their choice. But he doesn't want to hear it the next time someone calls them 'lovebirds.' They're practically asking for it at this point.

"Mr. Fenton?" Mr. Lancer's voice breaks the trio out of their respective activities and they all look up to face the teacher. "If you would be so kind as to stop giggling with Ms Mason, it's your turn to add something to the time capsule."

"Sure thing!" Danny stands up, grinning cheerfully as he grabs the green sphere that's lying at his feet and making his way to the front of the group.

Tucker makes note in his PDA that, while Sam is blushing about the giggling comment, Danny is just smiling like this is any other Saturday. Note made, he turns his attention back where Mr. Lancer is wearily eyeing the device in Danny's hands.

"And what, pray tell, is that?"

The black haired boy laughs and holds the sphere out for the teacher to inspect. "It's called a Ghost Sphere. My parents invented it back when I was in the second grade. It's, um, supposed to catch ghosts in it when you activate it. It's kind of like the original Fenton Thermos."

"The what?" Mr. Lancer doesn't seem any less confused by this explanation.

"Nevermind." Danny's grin widens. "The point is it's supposed to trap ghosts in it for six hours but, uh, Sam and I sort of broke it. Well," he wrinkles his nose, "honestly, it was probably never going to actually work on a ghost anyways, but Sam and I got stuck inside it for like four hours that year."

"And it's important to you why?"

The halfa's smile softens. "Well, before that, Sam and I hated each other. It was kind of an epic thing." A few students in the crowd nod in agreement and chuckle as they recall the less than pleasant (but also highly entertaining) relationship the two raven haired teens had shared in first grade. "But we were stuck together for so long that we just sort of fell into a friendship. And I, uh, was just recently reminded that it was a pretty lucky thing that that happened."

Mr. Lancer looks briefly likes he wants to 'aw' at the idea, as do many of the girls. Sam's face is a bright red though, which Tucker thinks is hilarious so he quickly snaps a picture on his PDA, kind of regretting that he never asked Danny what he was putting in the time capsule before. That little speech would have been perfect.

" _That_ is an excellent item, Mr. Fenton." The older man smiles knowingly at the teen. "I suspect you will be one of the few students who don't find their values have changed much over time. Mr. Foley, you're up next!"

Danny grins at Tucker as the techno geek gets up to add his item to the capsule. They high five over Danny's success as they pass one another and Tucker can't keep the grin off his face as he makes it up front. He digs into one his many cargo pockets and pulls out a PDA. "I'm putting this in here. With the way technology is changing, it'll be nice to see what it was like ten year ago. Because at that point it will be all but obsolete. Plus," he adds as he sees Mr. Lancer's less than convinced expression, "It's been uploading all the major news stories since you gave us the assignment a month ago. And I went back and added the biggest moments of the year so far. So that people in Amity Park of the future will get to see what we considered news worthy. And," He waggles his eyebrows suggestively, "I added my phone number so that all the beautiful ladies of the future can find me."

He hears what he's pretty sure is Sam snorting in mirth at this comment but he just grins. It's not like her thing is any less cheesy.

"Alright, Mr. Foley, I am actually fairly impressed with your logic. Minus the phone number part, of course. Ms Grey?"

Valerie makes her way up the front, ignoring Tucker's glare as he passes her. I'm putting in these." The teen holds up several articles about the town's resident spirit, Danny Phantom. "So that people in the future will know to look out for him. If I don't get to him first." She mutters the last part darkly and mostly to herself.

"I'm sorry, Ms Grey, but what was that?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing." Valerie waves off Mr. Lancer's question. "Just, everyone thinks he's a hero now because of that whole mess with that Ghost King guy." Her face darkens. "But I think they should know the truth."

"Well, ghosts are certainly a prominent part of Amity Park's present. Thank you Ms Grey."

"Perfect." Danny groans, bringing up a hand to rub at his forehead. "Just what I need, something to re-peak people's interest in me."

"Re-peak is not a word." Sam says as she chuckles lightly. "And don't worry. A lot can change in ten years." Her brow furrows in thought. "Well, thirteen technically since we're still in freshman year and all. But the point is: who knows what's in store for us in ten years."

"Besides," Tucker shrugs, joining Sam in trying to cheer their friend up, "you can always just not come back for the reunion."

Danny sighs, trying to get back some of his good mood back from earlier. "You're assuming I can leave this place at all."

"Of course you'll be able to." Sam tells him firmly. "We'll make sure we find a way. _All_ of us." She gestures between herself and Tucker to make sure he knows what she means. They're in this together.

"Thanks." Danny smiles gratefully at Sam before turning that smile to Tucker. "To both of you."

"Ms Manson." Mr. Lancer's call for their friend cuts off whatever reply Tucker was going to give.

Sam makes her way to the time capsule, pulling a small white envelop out of her pocket as she does so. "Here it is." She announces with a flourish, dropping the envelope into the capsule. "It's sort of supposed to work with Tucker's PDA." She admits and Mr. Lancer can just make out _to be used with PDA_ in the girl's scrawl on the front of the envelope. "It's got the password to unlock a video file on the PDA that Danny, Tucker, and I all made. It's just a look at everyday life here in good old Amity Park. Because it might be cool to see just exactly how much it will have changed in ten years, you know?"

Mr. Lancer nods in approval. "Very nice Ms Manson. I'm glad to see you and your friends worked so hard on this assignment.

The Goth teen shrugs nonchalantly, but can't quite keep the pleased grin off her face. "We just wanted to be able to look back on high school and remember what an...interesting experience our first year was."

And with that she strolls confidently back to her friends, not even worried about the boy that Mr. Lancer calls up next. Her two friends both offer her high fives at a job well done and she hooks her arms around both boys' necks as Tucker obliges and snaps a picture with his PDA. "Someday," she moans after they've all untangled from each other, "you guys are going to be too tall for me to do that."

"I think you should still try it though." Tucker laughs as he pictures the scenario. "It'll be hilarious. I bet Danny ends up on the floor."

The halfa shakes his head, but chuckles because, yeah, that's probably exactly what would happen. "I gotta admit," He turns his attention briefly to the front where Mr. Lancer is thanking another student for their contribution before turning back to his best friends. "I'm surprised all of our ideas went over so well."

"I'm not." Sam replies easily. "They were all pretty awesome."

"Especially your movie idea, Sam." Tucker smirks knowingly at the girl but she completely misses it in favor of turning her attention to the front.

"Oh!" She grins almost wickedly. "I want to see what Paulina decided was important enough to place in the time capsule."

The two boys quickly turn their attention to the princess of Casper High as well as she holds out a magazine to their teacher.

"I decided to put in a copy of my favorite magazine in the time capsule!" She says excitedly, adding her item to the large collection already tucked safely inside the metal device. "That way people from the future can see how fashionable we are. Well," She sniffs and no one misses the way her eyes dart to some of the less popular people in the class, "how fashionable _some_ of us are."

Mr. Lancer looks vaguely wants to roll his eyes, but as a teacher he knows that's not an option. Sam, however, has no such restrictions and she rolls her eyes so hard it almost hurts. "Well, can't say I'm surprised."

Tucker rolls his eyes both at Sam and at Paulina's choice, but wisely chooses, like Danny, to remain silent. If they don't take the bait, Sam's likely to let this subject die with little to no chance of a rant about Paulina and her inability to get Sam's shoes wet (or something along those lines). It works and the three friends spend what's left of the assignment in comfortable silence, watching as the few remaining kids in class drop off their respective contributions to the time capsule. They cheer with everyone else when Mr. Lancer finally dismisses them back to their normal weekend routines.

The trio falls easily into step as they make their way to the Nasty Burger. "We'll just grab some quick brain fuel and then head to Sam's to study for the C.A.T." Tucker stretches as they walk, unable to keep the grin off his face at the thought of his favorite double meaty meat McNasty treat.

"The mock C.A.T." Sam corrects. "We won't actually have to take the real one until next year."

"Which is good," Danny adds, "because this test is supposed to have a huge impact on our future. And I'm hoping by then the ghosts will have calmed down a little so I can actually study for it. I don't want to end up working at the Nasty Burger."

"I don't know," Tucker responds thoughtfully, "I wouldn't mind working there. Think of all the free McNasty burgers that is!"

Sam shudders comically at the idea of so much meat and Danny and Tucker both laugh good naturedly at her. "Come guys. Less talking. More walking. Especially if the talking is going to be about meat."

* * *

"Ah!" Tucker takes an exaggeratedly large sniff of the burger in his hands. "Hello, beautiful. You are looking especially delicious today."

The three friends are sitting in Sam's basement, study materials spread around them as they dig in to their respective brain fuel.

"That is so gross." Sam says with a shake of her head.

"Hey now!" Tucker pulls the burger close to his chest, ready to defend his favorite meal. "I'll have you know that the McNasty burger is a specialty." A large glob of sauce falls off the burger and onto Tucker's shirt. He grins and uses a finger to swipe the sauce off his shirt and into his mouth. "Did you know that their sauce is a secret recipe? Seriously," he adds at his friends incredulous looks. "No one knows how to make it. It just shows up every time they're about to run out. And if you heat it to extreme temperatures, it explodes!" His hands fly out dramatically, covering his two friends with bits of the special sauce.

"Fascinating." Sam deadpans as she grabs two napkins, handing one to Danny before using the other to clean of her face.

Tucker makes a face at Sam but turns his attention back to his burger. Danny just laughs good naturedly before returning to his meal. His friends are definitely weird, but he wouldn't trade them for the world. Despite how his actions had sometimes made it seem. They all eat in silence for the next several minutes, with the exception of Sam humming in between bites of her spinach salad.

"Okay," Danny swallows the fries he'd been chewing before turning to face Sam. "What are you humming? You hummed it the whole to the Nasty Burger and to your house and I don't recognize it."

"Oh, uh," Sam blushes at having been caught. "It's this song called _Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner_. It's by a band called _Fall Out Boy_. They came on my Pandora the other day and I really liked them. It's been stuck in my head ever since."

"So wear my like a locket around your throat," She sings softly, knowing that they'll bug her until they get to hear it, "I'll weigh you down and watch you choke. You look so good in blue."

"That," says Tucker as he takes a sip of his soda. "Is kind of creepy."

"Please." Sam rolls her eyes. "Like that's the weirdest thing about me. I fight ghosts on a regular basis. And I have toaster that floats."

"True." The techno geek concedes. "Still weird though."

Danny laughs. "It's kind of catchy though." He flashes a grin at Sam. "Tell you what, if I ever get the urge to strangle you, I'll sing that to you first."

"Shut up, you idiot." Sam laughs as she picks up a couch pillow and shoves it in Danny's face. " _That's_ what's weird."

Tucker snickers in agreement, but before he can add to the teasing, Sam's TV blares to life and all three teens turn in shock to look at the static playing on the screen. "Uh," Tucker edges away from the TV, "is it supposed to do that?"

"No..." Sam whispers and instinctively Danny steps in front of her, putting himself between the TV and his friend.

"Something tells me this is a ghostly issue rather than a technological one." The halfa states, eyeing the TV suspiciously.

"Very good ghost child."

All three friends jerk in surprise as the empty TV is suddenly home to an elderly ghost they've never seen before. He smirks at them, at Danny really, as the teen is surrounded by two rings of light and changes into his ghostly counterpart.

The ghost clucks his tongue and shakes his head. "So quick to assume I'm here to fight you."

"Well," Danny quips, moving even more fully in front of Sam, "that's usually what ghosts want when they come to bother me."

There's a flash of blue light, causing all three teens to close their eyes. "Maybe I just wanted to play a little game." They look up to find the TV off and whip around to find the ghost now behind them and looking like a small child.

"A game?" Danny scoffs. "No thanks."

"My apologies," the now adult ghost holds up his hand. "That wasn't an invitation." He holds up his staff as well. "It was a demand."

"Okay that's enough-"

"Freeze!" All three teenagers do as their told, Danny with his mouth still open in speech.

He takes a medallion from a pouch at his side before picking up Sam's still frozen form and throwing over his elderly shoulder. He taps his staff against Danny and blue bindings spring up and wrap around the halfa. Then he slips the medallion around the teen's neck and watches as he springs back to life.

"Of your yammering." He freezes, metaphorically this time, as he catches sight of what, or who, exactly the ghost has a hold of. "Put Sam down." He whispers threateningly.

The child ghost, still managing to hold Sam up despite the fact that he's suddenly much smaller than her, shakes his head. "It wouldn't be much of a game if I gave you the prize right away."

Danny struggles against his bonds. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"My name is Clockwork and I am the ghost of time." He spreads his arm away from his body so that Danny can see the clock that's centered in his chest. "And I'm talking about the game." He shifts to a young man and jostles Sam, drawing Danny's attention back to her. "It's hide and seek." He explains simply. "Except I'm hiding your friend here and you don't get her back unless you can find her yourself. There is no olly, olly, oxen free in my game."

"Put. Her. Down."

"Oh don't worry." Now an old man again, Clockwork turns and waves his staff to open a swirling blue portal before turning back to the halfa. "I will. Somewhere in your past, your present, or your future. You'll have to figure out where she is for yourself though."

Danny continues to struggle against the bonds holding him to no avail. "You won't get away with this." He promises threateningly.

Clockwork chuckles. "I'm not trying to get away with anything, ghost child. There are some things I need you to take care of for me. The girl is just...insurance."

"I'm not doing anything for you." Danny spits out angrily.

The ghost laughs again and Danny snarls at him. "Don't worry. You'll find that you don't have to do much extra besides play my game. Ah, well, come and find us when you're ready. Turn the dials on the medallion until it shows the year you want and press the button. It will take you where you need to go." He turns to step into the portal before stopping and considering for a moment. "Oh," he turns his head back to face Danny, "And just so there's no confusion, your present would be anything from the beginning of this year up until now." He grins. "Happy hunting."

"Sam!" Danny calls desperately as he watches the ghost carry his best friend through the swirling portal. "No! Sam!"

As soon as the portal disappears, so do the bonds keeping Danny captive and he shoots forward.

"What?" Danny whips around at the sound of Tucker's voice. "Where did that ghost go? And where's Sam?"

"I don't know." Danny admits, his hand coming up to grip the medallion that's around his neck. "But I'm definitely going to find out."

* * *

 _to be continued..._

* * *

So we've finally gotten into the meat and potatoes of the story. Or at least into the beginnings of it. Next chapter starts the time travel!

Well, feel free to leave a review! I love hearing what you guys think!


	3. Chapter 3

And here's chapter three!

 **Author's Note:**

I just want to mention again that I'm writing this story with the assumption that the present for Danny is 2005, the release year of _The Ultimate Enemy._ I'm also pretty spectacularly terrible at writing childlike dialogue, so sorry about that in advance.

I would also like to state that as much as I genuinely love _Danny Phantom_ and considered to be pretty flawless in terms of plot and character development and continuity, particularly considering it's a children's show and was only allowed to run for three (relatively short) seasons, would it have killed Butch Hartman to keep some kind of track of the timeline?

Like was Danny 14 when he saved the world in _Phantom Planet_ and if he was, how on Earth did he manage to have two summer breaks in one year. And if he's 15 or 16...why hasn't he changed his outfit in over two years! All joking aside, it did make it kind of difficult when I tried to put a timeline on certain moments that Danny ends up revisiting.

Ah well, such is the life of a fanfic writer. Enjoy guys!

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

"Okay," Tucker states cautiously, completely aware of the dangerous green glow of his best friend's eyes and the white knuckle grip that he currently has around whatever is hanging from his neck. "You're going to have to catch me up here. The weird ghost was here and talking about a game. And then suddenly he _and_ Sam are gone. What is going on, dude?"

Danny sighs, finally releasing his death grip on the medallion around his neck so that Tucker can get a good look at it. It's like nothing they've ever seen before in their many encounters with ghosts. But then, that ghost hadn't been like any they'd ever fought before either.

"His name's Clockwork." The halfa explains. "Apparently, he's the ghost of time. He froze you and Sam in time or something." He frowns. "Me too, I guess. Until he gave me _this_." He thrusts the medallion, colored blue and purple, much like Clockwork, in Tucker's face. There are four small screens on the front of the medallion, each corresponding to one of the two dials on either side. The letters _CW_ are also in gold script beneath the screens, Tucker notes, as he takes a closer look at it.

"And that 'game' he wanted to play was him hiding Sam somewhere in my timeline and now I have to use the medallion to find her."

"So that's...it?" At Danny's narrowing eyes, he back tracks. "I mean he didn't threaten to kill you or take over the world or anything? Or even try to explain why he kidnapped Sam?"

"No! He just-" Danny stops short, as if he's just remembering something. "No actually, yeah he did. Kind of. He said he needed me to do something for him and that he was taking Sam as insurance."

Tucker raises an eyebrow, but this is already getting more complex then he likes for things to be. Ghost comes out, threatens to take over the world, and then gets stuffed back into the Ghost Zone via Danny's awesome powers. That's about as complicated as Tucker likes it to get. "He didn't even tell you what he wanted you to do?"

Danny shakes his head. "No. He just said that I wouldn't have to do much more besides play his game. Whatever that entails exactly."

"Okay so..." Tucker pokes carefully at the medallion, "how exactly does this thing work?"

His friend shrugs. "Clockwork says that I spin the dial to the year that I want to go to, and it'll take me to where I need to be."

"That sounds...realistic."

"Tucker," Danny gives his friend an exasperated look, "I'm half ghost. Realistic is about as far from the list of requirements for my daily life as a date with Paulina is."

The techno geek concedes this point before turning serious again. "So you're just going to go jumping head first into the time stream then?"

Danny shrugs again. "What else can I do? I _have_ to get Sam back. No matter what."

"No dude, I know." Tucker knows better than anyone about how much Sam means to Danny, even if the other teen hasn't quite realized it himself. "But where are you even going to start?"

"Uh," the halfa scratches the back of his neck as he considers this, "I mean, I guess starting from the beginning is my best bet."

It's Tucker's turn to shrug. "I guess a linear plan is better than no plan at all."

"Exactly." Danny turns and digs through his backpack before handing Tucker a Fenton Thermos and the Jack o'Nine Tails. "Take these. Theoretically, I should be able to just come back to the moment I left, but I'd still feel better if I knew you were keeping an eye on the portal and any ghosts that might sneak out while I'm gone."

Tucker takes the items from his friend and throws up a two finger salute. "You got it dude. I'll take care of Amity. You go take care of Sam."

"Okay." Danny takes a deep breath in, picking up the medallion and fiddling with the dials until the screens read _1998_. "I guess I'll start with the year Sam and I became friends. Makes as much sense as anything else."

He presses the small gold button that sits on the top of the medallion and both boys watch in amazement as a swirling blue portal opens up before them. "Well," Danny turns to Tucker one last time and returns the other boy's encouraging smile, "Guess this is it."

"Good luck, dude." Tucker tells him sincerely as he steps into the portal and disappears from view. "Not that you'll need it. You've thrown off mind control for Sam. _This_ should be a piece of cake."

* * *

 ** _1998_**

Danny steps out of the portal and is surprised to find himself starring at Fenton Works, only without the Ops Center. He's even more surprised to find Mr. and Mrs. Manson standing at the front door, a seven year old Sam standing in between them.

Her parents hardly look any different, but Sam has her long black hair pulled up into pigtails and is wearing a pair of blue jean overalls and a yellow shirt. She hadn't really discovered the Goth thing until middle school, so it shouldn't surprise him, but it does. Somehow, even in his memories, he's just come to associate Sam with the color black. Not necessarily dark and brooding (although she'd probably be okay with that too), but strong and intense and not about to change for anyone.

He shakes himself out of his thoughts as he floats a little closer to the Mansons, watching as Mrs. Manson reaches out a dainty hand to ring the doorbell. He's pretty sure no one will be able to see him, but he makes sure to stay invisible, just in case. A moment later his mother opens the door and doesn't bother trying to hide her surprise at who she finds on her doorstep.

"Pam! Jeremy! What can I do for you?"

"We need your...help." The red haired woman shudders, as if it's painful to admit this. "We think we may have a ghost problem."

His mother blinks in shock. "What?"

"There's apparently some little poltergeist," Mr. Manson's eyes flick down towards Sam who only smiles innocently up at him, "messing with things in our house. And Pam would feel better if you and Jack would come and check it out for us."

"Well, uh," His mother is clearly at a loss for words, but she ushers the three members into the house and Danny phases through the wall to follow them. "I'm sure we could do that. Let me just get Jack. JACK!" She calls down to the basement and a few minutes later Danny's dad appears.

"What's happening, baby?"

Sam giggles at the pet name from where she's seated on the couch between her parents as Maddie explains the situation.

"A ghost you say?" His father grins. "Why we'd be glad to take a look for you! We'll head over right away. You can leave Sam here with Danny. Jazz will keep them out of trouble! She's very mature for her age."

It's not until Danny is watching his dad push Mr. and Mrs. Manson out the door in his excitement, his mother shaking her head but smiling as she follows her husband, that he realizes he hasn't just landed on any day in the year that he and Sam first became friends. He's here. On the day that it actually happens. Without another thought, he slips down to his basement, already knowing what's going to come next.

He and Sam had technically met back in first grade when Sam had sat down next to him and asked to play. It had been going fine until Dash had made a comment about Danny and Sam had stood up for him when it became apparent that his six year old self had been unable to do so for himself. Instead of feeling properly grateful, first grade Danny had been embarrassed and furious that this _girl_ was trying to make him look weak. He'd snapped at her and, strong willed even at six, she'd yelled back at him. There had been hair pulling and shin kicking and they'd both ended up sitting in the principal's office grumbling about the other and waiting for their parents to come and get them.

Danny hadn't been able to let it go, the amount of trouble that she'd gotten him into, and the next day he'd pulled her chair out from underneath her as a prank. Never to take anything lying down, Sam and retaliated by innocently walking by the block tower Danny was building and 'accidentally' kicking it over.

Thus, the _Danny-n-Sam War_ , as Tucker had taken to calling it, had begun.

And it had lasted all the way up until the day that Danny currently finds himself floating in. He's broken out of his musing once again by the sound of tiny footsteps clambering down the stairs.

"What's down here?" He hears Sam call from the stairwell.

"Nothin'." His seven year old self replies. "Just my parents' lab."

Young Sam appears at the bottom of the stairwell, her eyes wide with excitement as she takes in her surroundings. "Cool." She gushes; stepping forward to where Jack had left the ghost sphere sitting harmlessly on one of the tables. "Look at all this stuff!" She reaches up on tip toes and is just able to grab the sphere from where it's sitting.

"Don't touch that!" Young Danny instructs sharply, racing up to where the raven haired girl is turning the sphere over in her hands, inspecting it from every angle. "If you break it I'll be in so much trouble."

Danny chuckles as he watches his younger self's eyes widen as he realizes that he's just let some very important information slip. Young Sam's wicked grin is a reminder that she hadn't missed it either.

"Oh really?" She asks, sounding more devilish than any seven year old had the right too. "Oops." She deadpans before letting the sphere tumble from her grasp.

"No!" Young Danny cries, as he dives to try and catch the invention before it hits the ground.

It slips past his fingers and hits the floor with a dull thud. There's silence for a few seconds before a series of beeps float up around them.

"What-" The triumphant grin slips off young Sam's face, "what's going on?"

Before young Danny can answer her, there's a flash of green light and both children find themselves suspended about a foot off the ground and trapped in a green bubble. Danny chuckles as he watches the two seven year olds blink in shock at their imprisonment before turning to blink at each other. He floats just a few feet away, legs crossed and head resting on his hand. It's interesting, watching this scene that he remembers so well from the outside. It's not really a different perspective; just a wider field of view.

"What _is_ this?" Young Sam screeches, kicking the side of the bubble.

"It's a ghost sphere." Young Danny tells her miserably, sliding down to sit on the bottom of the bubble. "It's supposed to capture ghosts."

"Do I look like a ghost to you?" The raven haired girl whips around to face him, violet eyes blazing in fury and a bit of fear.

"Maybe." Danny grumbles to himself. At Sam's glare he clears his throat and tries again. "No. But apparently my mom and dad don't have it working right yet. I told you not to touch it!"

"Get us out!" Sam pouts, arms crossed over her chest. "This is weird."

The blue eyed boy sighs. "I can't. There isn't a release button in here. And the timer doesn't run out for six hours."

He gestures below them and Sam turns to view the clock that she can just barely see below her feet. It reads 05:57. She sighs as well before mimicking Danny and sliding down to sit at the bottom of their odd little cage.

Present Danny watches in amusement as the two seven years old sit in what is probably the most uncomfortable ten minutes of silence of their entire friendship. He can see his younger self shooting glances at the girl every so often and he chuckles. Even at seven, even when he thought he'd hated her, he'd always been a little bit fascinated by her. She was tougher than anyone he'd ever known. And strong willed too boot. Sam had always drawn attention to herself. Just because she was so fantastically different.

She'd only gotten more unique over the years, but the novelty had...not worn off exactly, just after almost eight years of friendship with the girl, it didn't catch him off guard quite as much when she insisted on freeing the gorilla in the zoo, or saving the frogs, or eventually mediating with the school board and getting a salad bar added to their cafeteria. So much of Sam was unexpected and original that it stopped be shocking after a while. It was her normal and it had slowly but surely become Danny's normal too.

Especially after the whole accident in his parents lab.

He'd never forgotten how unique she was, but he'd forgotten how much it used to enthrall him.

"I'm sorry." Young Sam's voice breaks him out of his musing and he unknowingly mimics his younger self as he blinks at the girl. "For trying to get you in trouble." She clarifies after the other seven year old continues to stay silent.

After another few moments of silence, young Danny shrugs. "It's okay." He says finally. "I'm sorry too. For, um, lots of stuff." He offers her a tentative smile and is rewarded with a shy one in return. "Why did your parents make you come over anyways?"

Young Sam's smile turns impish and Present Danny remembers thinking that he liked that smile when it wasn't a result of her trying to get him in trouble. "I...played a couple harmless pranks." She shrugs. "Mom thinks it a ghost." She giggles quietly.

"Wow." Young Danny gapes at the other girl, the awe apparent on his face. "You must be good at not getting caught."

The young girl nods, smiling proudly. "Yep!" She turns thoughtful. "Well, my grandma might now. But she thinks it's funny too."

"How..." the young boy's voice is hesitant. "How do you not get caught?"

"Oh that's easy." Sam pulls at one of her pigtails before leaning closer to share her secrets with this boy she supposedly hated.

Present Danny shakes his head, a fond smile on his face, as he watches his younger self drink in everything Sam is telling him. His pranks had gotten significantly better after that day. Especially when Sam had started helping him plan them while they were at school. He'd still got caught, but not nearly as often. And the quality of his pranks had increased significantly as well. He'd even worked up the nerve to prank Dash once or twice with the smaller girl's help.

He watched them for another hour, completely absorbed in their conversation and the friendship blossoming between them. It was hard for Danny to remember sometimes that there had been a _before Sam_ part of his life. A time when it had just been him and Tucker. Sam had slipped so naturally into her spot as Danny's best friend that it seemed weird to think that she wasn't always there. He'd had the unpleasant experience of knowing what it would be like if Sam had _never_ been in his life, but it was different somehow then just forgetting that she hadn't always been there.

That there had been a time when he had actively not wanted her there.

The year they disliked each other existed in Danny's memories, but it was fuzzy at best. A time he chose not to look at, partially because it sucked to think about him and Sam fighting, but largely because he spent most of that year _losing_ the _Danny-n-Sam War_. Sam never did anything halfway. Probably never had. Looking back, it's no surprise that he'd gone down in flames when he'd tried to out prank the girl, but at the time he hadn't known or cared about anything but out doing the girl who'd embarrassed him.

He grins as he remembers Tucker's shocked look when Sam had sat herself down at their activities table the next day and greeted them with a friendly smile. The techno geek (although at seven he hadn't been techno or geeky at all) had actually fallen out of his seat in shock when Danny and replied in kind and offered Sam some of his crayons to color with. Sam had dumped her crayons into the already large pile of Danny and Tucker's mixed collection and the rest, as they say, had been history.

Danny shakes himself out his musings again as he hears Jazz's footsteps on the stairs. The ten year old is about to find them and then leave them there as punishment for messing around where they shouldn't have been. He realizes with a start that he's been down here reminiscing for far too long.

"I need to find Sam. _My_ Sam." He tells himself firmly with a glance to his best friend's younger self. "But I don't know where to start..."

A giggle from above him catches his attention and he shoots off through the ceiling of the basement, back into his kitchen. With himself, Sam, and Jazz all in the basement for the moment, there shouldn't be anyone else in the house to be giggling. He stops short at the sight of the ghost of a small girl, dressed in an old fashioned white dress with a blue ribbon in her brown hair.

"Who are you?" Danny asks suspiciously. "And how did you get out of the Ghost Zone if my parents haven't built the Fenton Portal yet?"

The young ghost giggles again and flashes him a smile and a medallion that looks like his own, except without the dials and the screen for the dates. "My name is Isabella!" She tells him happily. "And I'm a messenger for Clockwork." Her demeanor turns serious. "He wants you to know that she isn't here, ghost child. And that he suggests you continue your search in..." Her brows come together and she flips over her medallion before remembrance washes over her features. "2001!"

Danny lunges towards the ghost girl. Not to hurt, but to see if she knows anything more about Sam's whereabouts. Before he can even get close, however, the girl tugs off her medallion and disappears from view, her giggle lingering in the air.

The halfa clenches his fists and wills himself to not take his frustrations out on his kitchen. It would be entirely too hard for his sister or himself to explain when his parents finally returned home. Instead he takes a deep breath and fiddles with the dials on his medallion until they read the number he wants. He presses the button and watches as the swirling portal opens up before him.

"2001 it is then." He tells the empty kitchen as he steps through the portal, already wondering what will be waiting for him on the other side. "Hang on Sam. I'm on my way!"

* * *

 ** _2015_**

"You know," Sam sighs and shifts her head from one hand to the other, "this is incredibly boring. Not to mention rude."

Clockwork shifts to a baby and Sam lets out a soft breath at the sudden drop that comes along with his change of height. "You find this," He gestures to their surroundings with his staff, "boring?"

Sam rolls her eyes. "Kind of. I mean, the Ghost Zone?" She scoffs. "Been there. Done that. Plenty of times thanks."

The ghost carrying her chuckles as he shifts to the form of a young man. "I should have expected that you would be unimpressed with the Ghost Zone. Even if it is from the future."

This pulls Sam up short. "The future?"

"Of course." Clockwork nods. "I am the ghost of time after all. This _is_ the Ghost Zone you're familiar with. Just ten years into the future."

The Goth girl's jaw drops in surprise. "Ten years?! What on Earth are we doing ten years into the future."

"Waiting for the ghost child to find you." The now elderly ghost tells her. "But first we have a stop to make."

"A stop?" Sam twists, trying to face the ghost despite the fact that he still has her thrown over his shoulder. "You mean we aren't staying in the Ghost Zone."

"Oh no. We have somewhere else we need to be before your friend catches up with us."

"Let me guess," Sam deadpans, "You have a partner in crime."

Clockwork laughs again. "No. I prefer to work alone. This pit stop is for you." With that, Clockwork stops and places Sam by his side so that she can see what's in front of her.

It's a door. A plain and unassuming door that matches just about every other door floating around the Ghost Zone. And it does little in the way of impressing Sam.

"Something tells me no ghost is going to be thrilled to see me." She tells him, her hand on her hip. "And I definitely know I'm not going to be thrilled to see whoever _that_ is."

Now a young man, the ghost just shakes his head and opens the door before pushing Sam inside of it. It shuts behind them with a bang, leaving human and ghost in a mostly dark room that's only lit by the eerie green glow that surrounds them.

It's coming from technology. Lots and lots of technology.

Sam throws her hands up in exasperation and turns to her capture, a finger raised and pointed at his chest. "For your sake, you had better not tell me you brought me ten years into the future to see _Technus_!"

"Of that," Clockwork informs her, "I can assure you I did not."

"Oh really?" She crosses her arms over her chest, because yeah this ghost may have frozen her, taken her hostage, and carried her tens into the future, but she'll be damned if that means she's got to be afraid of him. "And who else in the Ghost Zone would have nearly this much technology, huh? Nobody else loves technology this much." She smirks. "Well except maybe-"

"...Sam?"

The voice that comes from behind her wipes the smirk right off her face and she doesn't even hesitate as she whirls around to see exactly who said voice belongs to. Even is maybe she should have. Her eyes widen as she registers the figure that floats before her.

"Tucker!"

* * *

 _to be continued..._

* * *

And there's chapter three! I've already apologized for my lack of little kid dialogue skills, but I'm going to apologize again because I just kind of hate it.

Aside from that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave and review and let me know what you thought!


	4. Chapter 4

And here's chapter 4! I've actually got half the story written already so keep expecting pretty frequent updates!

 **Author Notes:**

I cannot express to you how much I now hate the Jack o'Nine Tails. Not, like in theory, or even if it was a real weapon, because it's actually pretty kick ass when used appropriately. But as far as fanfiction is concerned, it is my least favorite ghost weapon to write about. It took me entirely too long to a) figure out how you're supposed to spell it/write it out and b) once I figured it out, it was a pain in the butt to write several times.

Also, sorry in advance for any typos. I proofread it, but I'm sure I missed some.

And that's all for now!

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

 ** _2001_**

There were a number of things Danny had been preparing himself for when he stepped out of the portal. Clockwork, another one of his messengers, literally any of the daily craziness that's always surrounded the town of Amity Park even before it became the ghosts' number one escape into the human realm. All of the scenarios he'd envisioned, however, had involved him landing on his feet. Or at least hovering safely in the air.

"Ack!" Danny cries out in surprise as he tumbles from the portal and lands less than gracefully in a heap on the ground below him.

Groaning and rubbing is poor abused head, he looks up to find the portal swiftly closing up from where it's nestled in the air, level with the second story window of the building he'd been dumped so unceremoniously in front of. He knows it instantly of course, in a way that only a boy with ghost powers could. Or, he supposes –though the idea makes him scrunch up his nose in distaste- a really determined suitor.

Oh yes, Sam Manson's second story bedroom window is a sight he has become increasingly more familiar with since he'd gotten his powers. She's his primary nurse after all and he can just imagine how horribly it would go over if he ever tried to get in through the front door, beaten and bloody. She's even getting pretty handy with stitches, something for which Danny has found himself incredibly grateful for on the rare occasion that his wounds required them. Most of the time, the ghost fights are exhausting but not too terribly dangerous. Every now and then though, Skulker shows up with a particularly nasty new upgrade or the ghost shows up when he's just exhausted from trying to live his double life and isn't as quick on his feet as he should be.

Grumbling a bit about his bad luck at landing, Danny picks himself up and floats up to the wide window. If the portal dropped him off in front of Sam's house, his best bet at finding his friend is up here where she's always been prone to hiding away from her parents. At this point in their lives Sam's just starting to realize that she and her parents don't exactly share the same ideals. Ten year old Sam is just starting to include animals that people routinely eat for dinner on her list of helpless things, but she still wears brighter colors.

He phases through her window and is unsurprised to find Sam sitting on her bed with her arms crossed and her eyes rolling heavenward. He is surprised to find her parents standing in her room lecturing her, however. Although it does explain her posture.

"You are not going over there, young lady."

"But he's sick mom! He's been cooped up for almost the whole week with just his sister for company. He's bored and lonely. _And_ my friend."

Danny realizes with a jolt that she's talking about him. About the time he'd been sick from school for over a week with a nasty case of the chicken pox.

"Well I'm afraid that's just too bad." Her mother counters, not phased in the least about her daughter's attitude. "You're not going over there and that's final!"

"Samantha," Her father tries to mediate, seeing how poorly this is going, "You haven't had the chicken pox before. We aren't trying to be mean. We're trying to keep you safe and healthy."

"Although, I will gladly admit that I don't trust the Fentons. Who wears jumpsuits anymore anyways?"

"Better than that ugly dress _you're_ wearing." Ten year old Sam mutters to herself, but only Danny is close enough to catch it. He chuckles and is glad that neither the girl nor her parents can hear it because that wouldn't end well for anyone.

Her mother continues without even trying to figure out what her daughter might have muttered under her breath. "You will not be stepping foot out the front door, young lady. End of story. Do you understand?"

Sam sighs loudly but nods, slumping over in the perfect picture of defeat. "Not a foot out the front door." She echoes.

"Good." Her mother nods in satisfaction before she and Mr. Manson turn to leave the girl's room. They stop at the door and turn back for just a moment. "We love you, Sammy." Her mother tells her before they disappear from sight.

The young girl's smile turns wicked as soon as the door closes behind them. She jumps off her bed and Danny follows her to her ridiculously large closet and watches in amusement as she digs around for a moment before pulling out a pair of shoes and slipping them on. "Good thing I won't be going out the front door." She scribbles a quick note and places it on her pillow.

She grabs her backpack before quickly tying her sheets together to make a long rope. Danny's eyes widen as he realizes exactly what Sam is going to do. "Sam, don't!" His natural instinct to protect the girl overrides his common sense and he forgets that the girl in question can't actually hear him. Of course, she ignores him (although to be fair, present day Sam would have totally ignored him too, even if she could hear him), and ties one end of the rope to her bedpost before throwing the other end out her window. She and Danny both stick their heads out to see that it stops a few feet from the ground and beside him, Sam makes a small nervous nose in the back of her throat.

"Come on, Sam." She scolds herself as she grabs hold of the sheet and places a foot on the window sill. "This is for Danny."

And the halfa watches as the ten year old version of his best friend launches herself out her window.

Well, in reality she slowly eases herself over the edge and down the wall, but to Danny it feels like she launches herself out the window and if he wasn't already in ghost mode he might have forgotten to breathe because this Sam is _ten_ and scaling down her wall like it's no big deal. He follows after her and even though he knows, logically, that she makes it down without a problem, the nervous clench in his gut doesn't ease up until Sam's shoes touch the ground and she takes off in a dead sprint for his house. He follows her easily all the way to Fenton Works, where the frame of the Ops Center now sits on the roof. It's not quite finished, but the beginnings of it are definitely there. He follows her as she knocks on his front door and greets his mother with an innocent and charming smile as she asks to be let in. His mother moves aside easily, having always been fond of Sam after they'd become friends, and directs the other girl to his room.

Sam calls out a thanks, but she and Danny are both already moving quickly up the stairs so they both miss Maddie's chuckle before she heads back down to the lab to work. Sam knocks at his door and waits for his quiet 'come in' before entering. Danny phases through the door she's shut behind her and cringes in sympathy at the sight of his ten year old self sitting miserably in bed, covered in red spots. While far from the worst week of his life, having the chicken pox had been pretty miserable. He'd been stuck inside with no one but Jazz for company and had to dodge his mother's attempts at home cooking along with the temptation to scratch everywhere he possibly could. He perks up at the sight of his best friend.

"Sam!" Ten year old Danny calls out, a smile lighting up his face. "What are you doing here?"

Sam moves her backpack in front of her, dumping it on Danny's bed before climbing up to sit across from her friend. "I figured you were probably bored stuck here all by yourself for the week, so I asked my parents if I could come keep you company." She opens her backpack and younger Danny's grin widens at the sight of several comic books, movies, and a deck of _Uno_ cards.

Danny's blue eyes widen. "And they let you."

"Don't scratch!" Sam slaps his hand away from where he'd brought it up to scratch absentmindedly at his chest. Then she's silent just long enough that if his ten year old self hadn't been so excited about having someone else to talk to, he might have gotten suspicious. "We talked." She finally tells him, before pulling out the deck of cards. "So," She smirks. "Do you want me to beat you at _Uno_ or _Scrabble_ first?"

Present day Danny is interrupted from watching them further by his ghost sense going off. He moves out into the hallway and is only marginally surprised to find an older gentleman, dressed like someone's butler, and wearing the same kind of medallion as the young girl from 1998.

"Let me guess," Danny crosses his arms as he stares down the ghost in front of him, "a messenger for Clockwork?"

The ghost nods. "Indeed. He'd like for me to inform you that when you're done watching yourself lose at _Uno_ , perhaps you'd have better luck finding what you're searching for in the year 2004." Then he removes his medallion and both it and the ghost vanish from sight.

Danny blows out a slow breath. "That is already getting old. Still," He picks up the medallion and looks at it, "if Sam isn't here..."

His eyes slide to his closed door and he goes intangible just enough to stick his head through the door and smile at the sight of he and Sam, busy with a game of _Uno_. He watches himself throw down a 'Draw Two' and smirk, certain he's gotten the girl. Then he watches his eyes widen in horror as Sam throws down a few 'Draw Two's of her own. He smiles softly at the sight. That week had seemed pretty unbearable to his ten year old self until Sam had come along with her company and enough comics and movies to keep him busy even after she'd left. She'd even brought along several snacks for him to keep safely hidden up in his room. At this point in their friendship, she and Tucker had both suffered through enough meals at the Fenton household to know that if he was primarily eating (dodging) his mom's cooking, that he'd be in some serious need of some snacks.

But that's how Sam had always been. She always seemed to know when her friends needed her, especially Danny. And she'd only gotten better at it since the accident that gave Danny his powers. Tucker was by no means a bad ghost hunting partner, there had even been quite a few times that Danny would have lost without the techno geek's special set of skills, but Sam always seems to know when he's ready for the Fenton Thermos to be tossed his way or when it's better for her to sit on the sidelines or jump into the fray. Not to mention how well she plays the role of Florence Nightingale.

The ghost hunting thing had taken over his life so thoroughly that it kind of overshadowed the times before that, but Sam had been doing stuff like this for him for years. She'd ended up with her own week at home with chicken pox. And as miserable as Danny knows he was during his week at home, he knows Sam had been doubly so, fighting off the chicken pox, her parents ridiculous smothering, and –apparently- their scolding at the fact that she'd snuck out in the first place. Danny hadn't been allowed to see her at all that week, which Danny had always chalked up to the fact that her parents didn't like him, but now he's beginning to wonder if perhaps it hadn't been punishment for her sneaking out.

It had always been a go to punishment for both of their parents, to take away their ability to see each other. A threat to not be allowed to have Sam over had always kept Danny in line better than anything else and his mom knew it.

"Got to remember to thank her for this." Danny mutters to himself as he pulls himself away from the scene before him and back into the hallway. "And probably for all the other stuff she does for me." He grins, thinking about the time with the purple back gorilla. "Even if occasionally she also has her own agenda."

With that he spins the dials until they read 2004 and presses the gold button. The portal springs to life before him and takes one look over his shoulder at his bedroom door and what's hiding behind it, before stepping through and into his eight grade year.

"Please," he asks no one in particular, "don't let me land on my face this time."

The portal closes swiftly behind him and Jazz comes up the stairs with cookies for her brother and his friend, completely oblivious to what she'd just missed.

* * *

 ** _Present_**

"This," Tucker gasps as he rounds the corner of the Nasty Burger, in the opposite direction that it's other terrified patrons are scrambling towards, "is getting ridiculous."

He pulls out the Jack o' Nine Tails and takes aim at the specter that's currently trying to shut down his favorite fast food chain. "Did Danny put out a memo before he left?"

He gives an unflatteringly girlish shriek as the ghost turns its attention from the building to start shooting ghosts rays at the resident techno geek. He moves out of the way, scrambling to pull out the Fenton Thermos as he goes. "Come to daddy." He taunts as he pulls off the lid. The ghost goes in with a shriek and Tucker sighs in relief.

"Seriously..." He recaps the thermos and leans back against the wall. "That's the third one. He's only been gone for two hours!"

Just then, another terrified shriek comes from the parking lot and Tucker groans. "You have _got_ to be kidding me!"

As much as he'd love to slump down right where he is and take a nap, or maybe walk the ten feet or so that it would take to get inside the building and get another burger, he just shakes his head and races for the parking lot. Danny is going to _beyond_ owe him for this. "Something has to be going on." He mutters to himself as he watches yet another ghost he's never seen before chase the few remaining patrons and employees that had tried to brave the threat, successfully sending them running away from the Nasty Burger.

These ghosts aren't tough, per se, although ghost fighting is obviously always easier with Danny and his ghost powers to help out (help out, do most of the work –Tucker's had to chase down and capture five ghosts in the past hour so he think he's allowed to over exaggerate right now), but he and Sam had both gotten pretty good at holding their own over the past several months. These ghosts aren't even putting up a particularly tough fight. They're just slippery, leading the teen on a wild goose chase around town, first to the school, then to the park and town hall, and finally the Nasty Burger. But once he finally manages to corner them, they end up inside the thermos pretty easily.

If he, Danny, and Sam hadn't spent a lot of their time catching and then throwing the Box Ghost back into the Ghost Zone (catch, release, repeat as Tucker liked to say), he might be more suspicious of the seemingly random attacks. They're wearing him out for sure, but that's all their doing. Aside from the normal terror that regular people experience upon seeing a ghost, these ones aren't doing much harm. Except to him, but even that's reduced to a poorly aimed ghost ray.

But, seriously, he's sick and tired of this. Whatever leak there is in the ghost portal needs to get fixed, _immediately_ , because Tucker had plans today, dammit. And they included a lot more lounging and a lot less ghost chasing than what he's currently experiencing.

"Take this!" Tucker calls out, hoping to catch the ghost off guard. He launches the Jack o'Nine Tails at the figure who's still laughing at the last of the fleeing civilians.

The specter turns at the last second, however, reaching out a hand and catching some of the ropes before they can wrap around him. The rest of the ropes fall limply to the ground and the ghost grins in triumph before giving one powerful tug and ripping the Jack o'Nine Tails out from the surprised techno geek's hands.

"Oh man." Tucker deadpans. "Figures they'd save the strongest for last."

The ghost's grin grows bigger as a well aimed ghost ray knocks the Fenton Thermos out of his hands.

"And the guy with the best aim." He backs up nervously, hands held up in front of him, although what good that's going to do him, he hasn't the slightest. "Nice ghost. Nice ghosty. You don't really want to hurt your friendly neighborhood techno geek, do you?"

The chuckle the ghost gives in response makes Tucker think that there's actually nothing the other ghost would love more. Today is apparently just not his day. He's actually considering that maybe this might be the end when the ghost yelps in pain and drops to the ground, panting. Behind it stands a very irate Jazz, holding out the Fenton Lipstick, obviously switched into its weapon mode.

"Back off spectral freak!" The red haired girl cries, brandishing the lipstick. "There's plenty more where that came from!"

All that ghost hunting with Danny must have really paid off, because Tucker's reflexes kick in and he automatically grabs for the Fenton Thermos, sucks the ghost into it, and recaps it before the shock of what he's just seen even has a chance to set it.

"Jazz?" He finally manages to ask as his best friend's sister (and the only person in their entire family who _didn't_ hunt ghosts) picks up the Jack o'Nine Tails, retracting it like she's been doing it all her life, and handing it to the boy who's standing, gaping before her.

"Yeah. Um," She places a hand on the back of her head, the other still outstretched towards Tucker with the ghost hunting weapon, and laughs nervously. "Hi."

"Uh..." He starts back to life, taking the Jack o'Nine Tails from her and tucking it into his pocket. "Not that I don't appreciate your timing, because I _really_ do, but, um, what are you doing here?"

Jazz sighs before dropping her hand back down her side. "I've been following you since you ran out of our house a little while ago.

Tucker had stopped by Fenton Works after Danny had stepped into the portal to search for Sam, hoping to find the Fenton Lipstick. He had been searching for it in Danny's room when he'd seen the first ghost tearing down the street, chasing a bunch of adults. He'd given chase and hadn't even realized that Jazz was home, let alone that she'd known he was there.

"It's just weird to see you guys without Danny." She continues, rubbing her hand up and down her arm and if Tucker didn't know any better, he'd think she was nervous. "Actually..." She looks around, like she's expecting Danny and Sam to pop up from behind a car and yell surprise. "Where are Danny and Sam?"

"I don't suppose you'd believe me if I told you they were off having another one of their 'blushy moments,' would you?"

Jazz shakes her head. "Definitely not."

"Right." Tucker nods and tries to think of a plausible excuse. "They got detention."

The older teen puts a hand on her hip and sends the boy a disbelieving stare. "It's Saturday, Tucker."

"Psh, yeah, I know that. It's called Saturday detention. Haven't you ever seen _The Breakfast Club_?"

"Yes. But I know that Casper High doesn't _do_ Saturday detentions. And how have _you_ seen that movie. It's older than you are."

At this, Tucker grins. "Sam."

"Ah." Jazz nods in understanding before turning serious again. "Seriously, Tucker. Where _are_ Danny and Sam? It's not like either of them to leave you to fight ghosts on your own. _Especially_ not Danny."

"Um, what?" Tucker can feel himself start to sweat. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not sure where Danny and Sam are, but it's certainly not doing something ghost related. And we _totally_ do not spend enough of our free time fighting ghosts for it to be not like them to do anything regarding that. Ghosts I mean. We don't know anything about the ghosts. I mean they come out of the portal. That really awesome Danny Phantom guy –that's one cool, completely and totally ghost...ghost!- kicks their butt and then we're safe until the next attack. But Sam and Danny and I are just, like, at the mall when that happens. I mean not every time, because sometimes we're at school or the movies or-"

"Tucker." Jazz cuts off his rambling softly, hands going up to still his arms, which had been moving frantically as he rambled. "It's okay." She tells him sincerely, being sure to hold his gaze so that he can understand what she's saying. "I know."

"You-what-how..." Tucker does his best impression of a fish and Jazz giggles quietly, despite the seriousness of the moment. "You know?" He asks meekly, sliding to the ground and leaning up against the car that's conveniently still undamaged behind him.

Jazz nods, following suit and sliding to sit down beside him. "For a while now. I saw him change one day and figured it out."

Tucker just continues to gap in amazement at the girl who has probably been covering for Danny for months. All without saying a word to anyone.

"That's-that's..." Tucker doesn't like being at loss for words. Silence is okay if he doesn't have anything to say. But it's completely unacceptable when he actually has _a lot_ to say and just can't figure out how to make his brain and his mouth work together to say them.

"It's okay." Jazz repeats, putting a comforting hand on his shoulders. This is a lot for him to take in and she gets that. "Ask any questions you want."

"Actually," both teens freeze at the sound of a third voice floating above them. It's deeper than either of their voices and even though they can't name who it belongs to, it sends a chill down both their spines. "I _do_ have a few questions for you, Jasmine."

* * *

 _to be continued..._

* * *

And here's chapter 4. I hope you guys are enjoying this. Leave a review, they really make an author's day!


	5. Chapter 5

Well, here's the next chapter. We're almost halfway through!

 **Author's Note:**

I hope there's still some people who are interested in reading this. It's always so hard to tell in the more inactive fandoms because you tend to get less response. But I know at least a few people are following this story, so hopefully that means there are!

Also, kudos to anyone who can figure out the ghost pun for Danny's middle school's name. It might be kind of an obscure reference. I'm so bad at judging those kinds of things.

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

* * *

 ** _2015_**

"Tucker..." Sam continues gaping in shock at the figure before her.

He looks just like the Tucker she left behind in 2005, right down to his red hat and cargo pants. Except, of course, for the slight green glow that surrounds him. The only sign that this Tucker isn't her Tucker, alive and well and just stuck in whatever sick game Clockwork is playing, the same as her. This Tucker has an ethereal glow that the boy she left behind certainly didn't have. The same kind of glow that she's come to associate with the ghosts they've been fighting.

"Hi Sam." Tucker smiles patiently and gestures to his surroundings. "Welcome to my new home."

"Home?" Sam is really struggling to wrap her mind around all of this. Because home implies that he lives her. Permanently. Which would make him...dead. "But you can't be! It's only be ten years! You should be –I don't know!- running some Fortune 500 company and teaching your kids how to work all the latest technology."

Tucker chuckles. "First of all, at 24, I doubt I'd be running anything. Yet." He adds as an afterthought. But Sam is right, if things had gone differently, he _would_ have eventually ended up as the head of some big company. "And second, things change when you die." Sam pales at his words and her knees shake, just a little, but she manages to stay up right.

"What happened?" She finally whispers. "Was it a ghost?"

Her friend's face (the ghost of her friend's face and oh god, she feels sick just _thinking_ that), turns somber. "It was."

"Didn't Danny try to save you," She cries, "He would never let either of us get hurt!"

"Sam! Sam!" Tucker steps forward and puts his hands on the hysterical girl's shoulders, trying to calm her down. Once she's silent again, he continues. "It was a ghost. And you're right, Danny would normally never let either of us get hurt. But Danny wasn't there."

"...He...he wasn't?"

"No." Her friend shakes his head. "Because he was off in the time stream, looking for _you_."

"...Me?" Sam squeaks. "Then this...this happens soon!"

Tucker nods, his face grave. "It happens, well in your today, I guess. Time travel is messy and confusing." He shrugs. "The point is Danny wasn't there to help and me, Jazz, and Danny parents all..." He gestures around him vaguely.

"Oh my god."

Her friend nods again. "Yeah. It's not so bad dying, you know. Well, for us it was fast. Just this sudden burst of heat and then when I opened my eyes again I was lying on the ground outside and I felt...lighter. I knew I was dead. It's hard to explain, it's just this knowledge that sits in your chest, where your beating heart used to be. And I woke up just in time to watch Danny return from where ever in the time stream he was. Without you."

"Without me?"

Tucker shrugs. "I guess he wasn't able to find you. And then something sent him back just in time to watch the paramedics taking away everyone else he cared about. The way he screamed, Sam, I knew then that even if I had a choice to move on, I couldn't. Not when I had to keep an eye on Danny. Make sure he was okay." He smiled bitterly. "I tried so hard those first couple days to make myself visible, to let him know that he wasn't technically alone. But I wasn't strong enough. So I just followed him. I followed him all the way to Vlad Master's house."

"Vlad? Why on Earth would Danny go there?"

"My best guess would be that it was the only place he had left. Danny had a hard enough time keeping his secret from his parents, and with his mom gone and therefore not a sore spot between them, Vlad, with his own ghost half, would probably have seemed like the most logical choice."

Sam crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly. "Nothing with Vlad could be logical."

"I agree." Tucker replies with a nod. "But I'm sure Danny wasn't thinking clearly. Can you imagine the kind of mental state you'd be in if something like that happened to you?" He shakes his head. "We'll probably never know why he went to Vlad of all people. The why doesn't really matter. The fact is, he went there, Vlad took him in, and I followed him because he's my best friend and I couldn't leave him."

"What happened next?" Sam whispers, a feeling of dread growing heavier in her gut as the words leave her mouth.

"Danny asked to be separated from his ghost half." Sam's eyes widen in shock at the news, but Tucker continues before she can interject. "He told Vlad it was just too painful. That ghosts were the reason he was alone now and he didn't want anything to do with them anymore. And Vlad," Tucker's face turns sadder than Sam has ever seen it before. "Vlad took pity on him."

The Goth girl gasps in shock, hands flying up to cover her mouth. "He what?"

Tucker nodded again, his mouth set in a grim line. "He separated Fenton and Phantom with the ghost gauntlets. Just like Danny asked him too."

"But that never works out well!"

"I know. And if I could have made myself visible I would have tried to stop them. As it was all I could do was watch as Phantom became his own entity and Fenton become this empty, emotionless shell of my best friend. And then," Tucker rubs his forehead, looking as if these next memories pain him. "And then Phantom took the ghost gauntlets and separated Masters from Plasmius."

Just when Sam had thought the dread in her gut couldn't get any worse, it grows heavier and she bites back a groan. "Oh no..."

"Oh yes." Tucker shakes his head. "And instead of joining with their respective human halves, Phantom and Plasmius joined together to make one ghost." Tucker taps at some buttons on his PDA before a hologram springs to life.

"Oh my god." Sam does groan at the sight before.

It's Danny Phantom. Almost. Except he looks older, with a white goatee, flaming hair, and glowing red eyes. His white _DP_ emblem is still splayed across his chest, but his eyes are glowing red like Plasmius' and he's even got the other ghost's stupid super villain cape.

"That-that can't be Danny."

"It's not." Tucker shakes his head again. "Not really. Not the Danny we know. He calls himself Dan Phantom and he's what happens when the evil of Plasmius takes over the drive and power of Phantom. It was worse when it first happened." The teen ghost shudders. "He looked just like our Danny. Except for his eyes and his hair. It was horrible. He laughed cruelly and blew up Vlad's mansion before flying off. He never even looked back."

"Blew it up!" Sam's eyes widen again. "But what happened to Danny Fenton?!"

"The explosion killed Vlad. I wanted to save him, but I wasn't strong enough. I could only save one. And I-" He closes his eyes, looking pained. "I knew which one it would be. I mean he's barely a shell of who he was but...but he's still Danny and I...couldn't just leave him. I just couldn't."

"Where is he?!" Sam cries, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and shaking him frantically. She's vaguely aware that the only reason she can even touch him is because he's letting her, but she's got more important things to worry about than that. "Where's Danny?"

Tucker places his hands on hers gently, not prying them from his shirt, but stilling them and in turn himself. Instead of answering her verbally, he just turns sad eyes to the corner of his room. She releases his shirt and whirls around, trying to brace herself for what she's surely about to see.

But she shouldn't have bothered. Nothing could possibly have braced herself for the sight of her best friend, ten years older, but looking like he's hardly aged a day. He's dangerously thin and his blue eyes are wide and frantic, resting over black smudges that speak of only the bare minimum amount of sleep. He's cuddled in the corner, curled up in on himself, and even though his eyes dart around frantically at the slightest noise, they're also empty and vacant, like he's not even really with them anymore.

This is worse than anything Sam could have imagined for her friend. Even death seems like it might have been kinder. But, like Tucker, she's not sure that's something she could have given him had she been in the techno geek's place. She doesn't like to cry, but she can't stop the tear that runs down her face as she watches this Danny rock back and forth, arms wrapped around his legs as if to protect himself from dangers only he can see.

"Oh Danny..." She takes a tentative step forward, but Danny just shrinks in on himself, becoming even smaller, though Sam hardly thought that had been possible.

"I told you," Tucker tells her simply. "He's barely Danny. We lost Phantom _and_ Fenton with that split." She turns back to the ghost of her friend and he gives her a sad smile. "Some days it's all I can do to get him to eat. And he never responds to anything. Just sits there and mutters all of our names. I know it would probably be kinder to...let him go, but I-I just can't seem to."

"I don't blame you." Sam whispers, shaking her head. "I can't tell if it's right or not, but I don't blame you. I don't think I could do it either. Because he's Danny. And this is all of him that we have left."

Then, as if just remembering the other ghost present in the room, Sam whirls on Clockwork, her eyes bright with her anger. "You!" She jabs a finger at the ghost who has been silent this whole time. "You did this when you forced Danny to come after me."

"You could say that." The ghost replies calmly. "But you could also be very, very wrong."

Sam actually stomps her foot in frustration. "I have had it with you! I barely even know you, but I get the sense that you're big on talking in riddles. And I am so done with that. After everything you've just made me learn, I deserve a clear explanation!"

"The future," Clockwork shifts from a young man to an elderly one, "is rarely clear when you try and view it from the present. But-" he continues before Sam can try and attack him out of frustration, "perhaps this once, you may be correct. I brought you here to change the future after all. You should know what you're getting into."

"Yeah," Sam growls, her eyes narrowing and her arms coming up to cross over her chest, "I should."

* * *

 ** _2004_**

The universe, or whoever was controlling this whole 'portals into the time stream' thing, apparently heard Danny's last request, because when he steps through the portal and into 2004, he does so upright and without making an ass out of himself. Even if no one can see him fall flat on his face, he'd still prefer to avoid it if at all possible. He's standing outside looking up at a building he hasn't seen or thought about since freshman year started.

It's a three story building, surprisingly bigger than the high school, but darker looking. The brick must have been a cheerful bright red when it was first built, but now it's just old and dark, full of chips and cracks. A flag pole sits out front, along with a sign that reads _Malcolm Crowe Middle School_. He can hear, although he can't see, the sound of middle schoolers playing basketball on the court that he knows is just behind the school. He blinks up in shock at building where some of the most unpleasant years of his life took place. Two years doesn't seem like a long time, but when you're bullied almost constantly, they can drag on forever.

As bad as the bullying at Casper High can be, Mr. Lancer, Ms Tetslaf, and a few of the other teachers are actually fairly proactive about stopping it when they catch it. None of the teachers at the middle had cared nearly as much.

Shaking his head, Danny pulls his gaze away from the school and scans the crowd for any sight of his best friend. He spots her eventually, but it's not his Sam that he finds, but rather her thirteen year old self. She's so close to the Sam that Danny's looking for that his chest aches at the sight of her. She's fully Goth at this point, and fully ultra-recyclo-vegetarian too, although that's hard to tell just from looking at her. The Goth thing, though, that can be seen from a mile away. It made her stand out, and Danny watched in amusement as the sea of middle schoolers parts of the spooky girl in black with half of her head shaved.

She's wearing dark jeans and her beloved black boots, but her shirt is black and long sleeved with a skull and cross bones on it. She's also wearing a choker that Danny had given to her for her thirteenth birthday; black with a small round amethyst pendant, almost the same color as her eyes, dangling just above her collarbone. He remembers having to beg his parents for the money for it, _and_ the insane amount of extra chores they'd made him do to help earn it. He'd practically installed all of the equipment in the now completed Fenton Ops Center himself.

It had been so worth it though, for the smile that had light up Sam's face when she'd unwrapped it. She'd only been fully Goth for a few months at that point and her parents had been less than thrilled about the development (where still less than thrilled about to be honest), and he'd known how much it had disappointed Sam, that her true to herself was a disappointment to her parents.

"What's wrong, Danny?"

The halfa is startled out of his musing by the sound of the girl's voice and he gaps in surprise when he finds her starring at him in worry.

"Danny?"

She takes a step towards him and he almost reaches out to grab her out stretched hand...

When she walks right through him.

Danny turns and rolls his eyes at his own idiocy. Of course Sam was talking to the thirteen year old Danny Fenton that existed in 2004. None of the other Sams had been able to see him, so it would make sense that this one wouldn't be able to either. He turns back to his friend and his younger self to see her place a gentle hand on the other Danny's shoulder.

"You okay?" She tries again to draw her friend's attention away from where he's staring up at the school and back onto her.

Thirteen year old Danny finally sighs and turns to face his friend. "Yeah. I'm just...not really looking forward to going to school again."

And it clicks for present Danny. This is the first day of 8th grade and the reason he's dreading going to school again is...

"I saw Dash over the summer. He's huge! This year's going to be even worse than last year."

Sam shakes her head. "No it isn't. Look, Dash may be bigger this year. And he's probably still a jerk, but that doesn't matter. You weren't alone last year and you're not going to be alone this year. Or ever." She tells him firmly. "And it won't matter how many lockers Dash tries to stuff you in because I will _always_ be there to let you out of them. And if you promise not to get mad at me for defending you again, I also have _no_ problem telling that air headed jock exactly where he can shove it."

Danny chuckles. "I promise I will never get mad at you for standing up for me again. I learned my lesson the first time." The friends share a grin at the memory. "Thanks." He looks up at the school, but he's smiling this time, even if it's just a small one.

"Anytime Danny." Sam moves her hand from his shoulder to his hand to give it a quick comforting squeeze. "You know I'm always going to be here for you. Tucker too."

Present Danny smiles at the sight before him. He's had to be brave on his own for so long now, what with being the unofficially protector of Amity Park, that he'd almost forgotten about this. About how, before he'd had to dig deep and find the courage inside himself, his courage had always come from Sam. Even before she'd showed up to school in almost all black and a scowl, she'd always had courage to spare. From the first day he'd met her when she'd unashamedly told the other first grade classmate who was picking on Danny to go lick playground sand, she'd always practically oozed the kind of courage Danny hadn't ever imagined he could possess. And how she could transfer some of the courage to him with a small and some kind words; a promise to always have his back. To share her courage if he couldn't seem to find any of his own.

Although, if he's honest with himself, even after he'd gained his powers and had to started to look inside himself for his own courage (he'd never seen Sam scared until the day down in his basement when he'd very nearly collapsed out of the now working Fenton Portal, feeling light and funny and not quite right), it had still come from Sam, in a way. Because it hadn't been until the Lunch Lady ghost had turned her attack on Sam that he'd really been able to dig deep and find the courage to face her.

"Oh look!"

Both Dannys and Sam cringe at the sound of Dash Baxter's voice floating over too them, sounding entirely too smug for the first day of school (or any day of school, really). "Looks like the freak is already comforting her loser boyfriend."

Thirteen year old Danny cringes again at the insult, but thirteen year old Sam just rolls her eyes. "Yes." She deadpans, "I'm a freak because my hair is different and my clothes are different and my opinion is my own, and therefore also different. And how terribly insulting to insinuate that I'm dating a nice guy who makes me laugh and who's company enjoy." The sarcasm is rolling off her in waves and she appears completely unapologetic for both the sarcasm and the speech she gave with it.

That was their first mistake.

2004 Danny, feeding off of Sam's confidence and annoyance at the bully, stands up a bit straighter and glares at Dash. "Yeah! And before you even open your mouth about having a girl fight my battles, maybe you should take a second to think about the fact that you just got verbally whiplashed by a girl."

That was mistake number two.

Because rather than be intimated by both of the teenagers finally standing up to him, Dash just starts laughing. Loudly and obnoxiously, catching the attention of almost everyone else who had been previously ignoring the exchange. "Oh man," He slaps his knee as he continues to crack himself up. "I don't believe this." He points a finger at Sam and Danny, smiling cruelly. "The two lovebirds think that they can stand up to me." His laughter dies down as he cracks his knuckles menacingly. "As if _that's_ going to change anything."

"Oh shove off, Dash!" Sam snaps angrily, before grabbing Danny's wrist and dragging him towards the school's entrance. "Come on Danny, let's get out of here before his idiocy rubs off on us."

Danny follows after obediently, partly because her grip on his wrist is so tight that he can tell she's _really_ angry and partly because he's never exactly been the best at saying 'no' to Sam.

"Run along, lovebirds!" Dash calls out and their classmates snicker at the nickname. "I'm sure you guys need your _alone_ time before school starts!"

Fourteen year old Danny stands on the sidewalk, amidst the teens who are still laughing, his eyes glowing green in anger as he watches himself and Sam disappear into the school building. He'd also forgotten about _that_ part of the day. The beginning of the infamous nickname that was still following himself and Sam. It had been thrown at them so much during 8th grade, that by the time high school had rolled around they were more annoyed by it than embarrassed. Usually.

Lately though...lately the nickname had started to be embarrassing again because...well because he couldn't help but wonder if they were right. The thing he shared with Sam was bigger than anything he'd experienced before. Different than his crush on Paulina. Different than the butterflies that the other pretty girls at school gave him as they passed by in the halls. Sam was such an intricate part of his life, she'd carved out a space for herself by his side before Danny had even realized it was happening. But he didn't mind that. He liked it even. Liked knowing that Sam was a big part of his life. That she would _always_ be a big part of his life.

Because whether or not the lovebirds nickname had any merit, if there was one thing Danny knew without a shadow of a doubt, it was that Sam was always going to be a part of his life. The Sam shaped space in his life was always going to be filled by her because he wanted it to be. No one could take her place, whatever her place was exactly.

Not quite like Tucker and not quite like Paulina. Sam was something else entirely.

But, Danny realized with a start, none of that was even going to matter if he couldn't find where Clockwork had hidden Sam and get her back.

"She's not here, you know."

Danny whips around at the sound of a voice and when his gaze falls on a young lady dressed in what looks like Victorian Era garb and holding a small baby in her arms he's not particularly surprised. Nor is particularly surprised to see the medallion with _CW_ etched into it hanging around the lady ghost's neck.

"Well, seeing as you're here with what I'm sure is another message from Clockwork, I'd have to say that yes, I know Sam's not here." He crosses his arms over his chest and taps a foot impatiently. "So how's about you tell me what year to hop to next, because, unsurprisingly, this is getting _more_ annoying, not less."

The mother ghost seems completely unconcerned with his rant and instead adjusts the baby in her arms before she answers him. "The master of time thought you might like to know that your search through the past has ended. It's time for you to move on to your present." She smiles and even though it looks nothing like his mother's smile, there's a motherly feeling behind it that Danny is completely familiar with. "I'd suggest you hurry too, 2005 is quite a busy year for you after all."

And without another word, the ghost removes her medallion and vanishes from sight.

"Yep," Danny nods to himself, "Still really, really annoying."

With a scoff of disgust at Clockwork's ridiculous antics, Danny turns the dial farthest to the right, just once, until the medallion reads 2005. The portal swirls open in front of him and Danny doesn't even bother with another sarcastic remark, he just floats up and into the portal, wondering which part of freshman year he's about to fall into.

* * *

 _to be continued..._

* * *

Well, there you go! I hope you guys enjoyed it. I am probably guilty of loving the fact Danny and Sam are widely consider lovebirds (and I like to think, eventually, the schools "it" couple -I'm also a sucker for any time Tucker as a betting pool set up for them, especially if the Fenton parents and Mr. Lancer are in on it) and I love to try and headcanon when exactly they got that nickname. I also, largely think that _Memory Blank_ should have focused a little more on Danny and Sam's friendship when he got his memories back, considering the nature of the wish made in the first place, but that's due in large part for my desire to have actual canon concerning the day Danny and Sam became friends and got their well known nickname. Eh, maybe it's better that we don't, because it gives us fanfic authors free range to make up our own.

Okay, enough of me rambling. I'm sure you guys don't care, haha. Leave a review, I love to know what you guys think!


	6. Chapter 6

Here's chapter six!

 **Author's Notes:**

Sorry about the delay in updating. I went home this weekend because my best friend got married on Saturday and I basically flew into town on Friday, got all the things I needed for my new car taken care of, passed out from exhaustion, woke up early Saturday, spent the morning getting my hair and nails and such done, went to her wedding, left the reception at like 9pm, drove until 3am, fell asleep, woke up Sunday and drove the other 8 hours back to my base. Needless to say, it was an exhausting weekend. Totally worth it, of course, because a couple months ago I didn't even think I was going to get to go, but it made for a pretty busy weekend.

That's all I got for you for this chapter, aside from the standard disclaimer about typos. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

* * *

 ** _Present_**

"Please tell me that was you." Tucker groans to Jazz. "Because I've seriously had about all the ghost fighting I can handle for the next hour."

Jazz shakes her head. "That was most definitely not me. I was hoping you knew who it was."

"I'm afraid," the third voice interjects and they both snap their gazes skyward. "That neither of you will get the chance to know me at all."

The two teens' eyes grow wide with alarm as a figure materializes before them. Tucker's jaw drops because he recognizes the emblem across the ghost's chest, but he doesn't recognize anything else about him. Not the red eyes, or fire hair, or the ridiculous cape. Something about him seems familiar, something besides the obvious connection to Danny, but for the life of him, Tucker can't figure out what that something is. He finds himself at a loss for words for the second time in what must amount to barely ten minutes. Beside him, however, Jazz has no such problems.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

"You mean," The ghost clutches a hand to his chest, pretending to be hurt, "you don't even recognize your little brother?" He grins maliciously. "For shame, Jasmine."

"Little brother..." Jazz's eyebrows furrow in confusion before the implications set in and shock replaces it. "Danny?"

"Ah," The strange ghost sighs, almost sounding nostalgic. "I haven't gone by that name in about ten years. And as for what I'm doing here...well, it's quite simple." He hand glows green with a ghost ray. "I'm here to ensure my existence. A little earlier than originally planned but," he shrugs, "a little extra time never hurt anyone." He laughs cruelly. "Well, it won't hurt me at any rate.

"Existence?" Tucker finds his voice finally, mostly because he's genuinely curious about what the obviously older ghost means, and partly by his desire to stall the ghost until they can both shake off their shock and fight him properly. "What are you talking about? Danny's already got his ghost half."

"Forgive me." This weird version of Danny apologizes. " _Danny_ Phantom exists already, yes. But I've been going by _Dan_ Phantom ever since my, um, let's call it a creation, shall we? I really should have thanked Vlad. But I suppose that doesn't matter now."

"Vlad?" Jazz turns to face Tucker. "What's Vlad got to do with any of this?"

Before the boy can respond to her, Dan Phantom laughs again and shoots his ghost ray directly at them. Instead of answering, Tucker pushes her and they both roll out of the way as the ghost ray hits the car they'd been leaning, leaving a gaping hole in one of the doors.

"Why are you doing this?" Jazz cries, trying to reason with ghost above her. If he is some version of her brother, then she should be able to reach him.

"Because I _can_." He hisses, sending another ghost ray at them and laughing as they scramble to dodge it. "Because I'm stronger than these pathetic humans and I'm going to wipe them out. Because I _want to_. I don't think so!"

He blasts the Fenton Thermos out of Tucker's hands and hurls another ghost ray at the techno geek, forcing him to dive out of the way.

"How could you do this?" Jazz tries to reach the human inside the ghost once more. "The Danny I know uses his powers to _protect_ people. Not to hurt them."

Dan pulls up short, giving the sixteen year girl a puzzled look. "Yes...That is surprising. I can't believe I never figured out that you knew my secret."

"I wanted you to tell me when you were ready." Jazz says, clearly hopeful that the fact that the ghost has stopped to talk means that her plan is working. "I've been covering for you since I found out because I knew you were using your powers for good. To keep everyone safe. And I was proud of you. And I know that deep down _that_ Danny is still in there!"

That seems to snap the ghost out of whatever thoughts he'd been lost in. He laughs even more cruelly if that's possible. "That's where you're wrong, Jasmine." He shoots the teens a sinister grin.

"W-what?" Jazz has realized that the 'talking it out' plan is clearly not going to work. So now she's honestly just trying to keep the other ghost distracted long enough for Tucker to reach the Fenton Thermos again. "What are you talking about?"

Dan rolls his eyes and wipes some imaginary lint from his shoulder. "I mean, I got rid of my weaker human half years ago. Found a new partner in crime." His pleased smile shows off his fangs. "And I've got to say...he's taken me in a much more... _interesting_ direction."

The dots connect for Tucker and he's speaking before he can stop himself. "Plasmius!"

The ghost chuckles, turning towards Tucker again. "Very good. But I thought I told you none of that!" He blasts at the Fenton Thermos again, this time destroying it completely.

Dan chases Tucker back towards Jazz with several ghost rays and grins in triumph as the two teens are forced back together. "I promise, I'll make this quick." He assures him, still smiling cruelly. "It's the least I can do for my big sister and best friend."

His tone is mocking and it makes Tucker's blood boil. "You aren't going to get away with this." He pulls out the Jack o'Nine Tails and launches it at Dan. "And we're not going down without a fight!"

Dan pretends to yawn as he turns intangible, letting the weapon pass through him harmlessly. He turns solid again and drops down to stand on the ground, one foot trapping the cord of the Jack o'Nine Tails and preventing Tucker from retracting it to use again. "I suppose I should have expected no less." He mutters and this time he turns his ghost ray back to the car he'd hit before.

It explodes, raining down flames and scraps of metal and throwing Jazz and Tucker back several feet. Both teens groan, but manage to make it to their feet, despite being significantly more battered and bruised than they'd been before. They don't even get a chance to catch their breath however, because Dan sends another ghost ray at them before they're even fully standing.

"Jazz!" Tucker cries, pushing the older teen out of harm's way.

He isn't so lucky, however, and the ray catches him in the side, knocking him to the ground as he screams out in pain. Jazz cries out as she rushes over to him, terrified at the fact that the boy isn't trying to get up. She's relieved to find that he's still breathing, probably just blacked out from the pain of the ghost ray. But relief gives way to a righteous fury and she turns back to face the ghost, pointing the Fenton Lipstick at him.

"You're going to pay for that!"

"It's funny," Dan taunts as he easily blasts the weapon out of her hand, "But actually, you're going to be the one to pay for that. Both of you."

And then he opens his mouth and lets out an ear splitting wail that actually brings Jazz to her knees. She clasps her hands to her ears and tries to fight the pounding in her head that's been brought on by this Danny's ghostly wail. The sound ends, but her vision is already going dark around the edges and she knows that as much as she should get up and keep fighting, she won't be able to. Darkness is creeping in faster than Jazz would like and she barely manages to keep herself from hitting her head on the pavement as she starts to lose consciousness.

"What-" Her words fall thick from her mouth, her mouth feels like it's full of cotton and her brain is struggling to make the connection to her mouth to form the words she needs to ask. "W-what did you do to Danny _Fenton_?" Because if there's one thing she knows beyond a shadow of a doubt as she watches this ghost who claims he used to be her little brother step closer to her and raise a hand, green with ecto energy, it's that he wasn't lying. There's nothing human in him anymore.

"I'm afraid," Dan tells her as he releases the ghost ray and unconsciousness claims her, "that you won't be around to find that out."

* * *

 ** _August 2005_**

"If you want me to go to Sam's room," Danny grumbles, half to himself and half to the portal that has once again dumped him in front of his best friend's house at the second story level, "You could just nicely place me in there instead of dropping onto the sidewalk!"

The portal, of course, does not respond to him, it just winks out of existence and leaves Danny still rubbing his poor abused backside. He spends another few seconds grumbling to himself before it occurs to him that whenever in 2005 he's actually managed to land himself, it's apparently the middle of the night. He's not sure why this surprises him so much, over half of his life takes place at night after all, and after he'd gotten his ghost powers, he and Sam and Tucker had snuck out on more than one occasion at night to go round up a particularly rowdy ghost.

Pushing the thought aside, Danny floats up to Sam's window and takes a second to wonder what he's going to find behind curtain number one (okay, wow, Sam is right. He needs some new jokes). There's actually a couple different options. She could be sleeping peacefully, or up late reading a new book, or maybe completely absent, depending on if it's far enough into the year for Danny to have acquired his ghost powers. Hopefully it's late enough that he's not going to catch her as she's just getting ready for bed, because _that_ would be beyond embarrassing. He may have occasionally used his ghost powers for peeking, but Sam has always been off limits in that respect. She's his best friend and even though he can admit to himself that she is pretty, he couldn't do that to her.

Not to mention that, ghost powers or not, he's absolutely terrified of what she could do to him if she ever caught him.

He phases through her window and stops short, dropping onto her carpet in surprise. Of all the things he could have found in Sam's room, this was not one of them. His best friend, looking exactly like the Sam he's currently looking for, is lying in her bed, asleep. But instead of the peaceful sleep that Danny's come to expect when he visits Sam at night (he visits Tucker too, okay? They just...he has a lot of enemies and it wouldn't be the first time one had tried to use his two best friends against him), the Goth girl is whimpering in her sleep. She's kicked her blankets down to the end of her bed and she's curled up in on herself, hugging herself as she tries to avoid whatever is haunting her in her sleep.

Danny's heart aches at the sight. He's seen Sam sad before. He's even seen her scared before thanks to their newest hobby. But he's never seen her like this: small and vulnerable and looking for all intents and purposes like she's facing against the one enemy she can't beat. He looks around helplessly, hoping to find something that can give him a clue about when exactly this is in freshman year so that maybe he can figure out what's causing Sam's nightmare.

Nothing looks out of the ordinary to Danny though, although he's honestly only seen the inside of her bedroom a few times, so it's not like he'd really know if something was out of the ordinary anyways. Before he can do anything else, Sam lets out a shriek of terror and bolts up in bed, eyes wide and breathing heavy. Instinctively, Danny is at her side, trying to put a comforting arm around her. He phases right through her, of course, and his eyes turn even more worried as the girl beside her takes in a few shuddering breaths and he realizes she's trying not to cry.

"Oh god..." The teenager takes a deep breath and pulls her knees to her chest, resting her forehead on her knees. "Get a grip Manson." She tells herself firmly, lifting up her head once more to swipe at the few tears that have collected in her lashes.

"So what if the ghost of a lunch lady tried to get revenge on me today." She takes another deep breath as she continues to try and calm herself down. "It probably happens all the time to...to...to other people whose best friends have ghost powers." She gives a watery little laugh. "Because there must be hundreds of those."

And then Danny knows exactly when in his present he is. Just barely a month after the accident in the lab, before he'd really had any form of control over his powers at all. And poor Sam had found herself the victim of his first real ghost fight. He's unsurprised to find out that Sam has had a least one nightmare about it. Even Tucker had admitted to having one or two of his own.

"Why didn't you come to me Sam?" Danny asks, even though he knows the other girl can't hear him. "You could have called me or _something_."

His friend sniffles and reaches over to grab her blankets and wrap them around her. "Can't tell Danny." She mutters to herself. "He's got enough going on as it is."

"Sam..." Danny sighs and wishes not for the first time since he started swimming through the time stream that Sam could hear him. "Sam you can tell me anything. It doesn't matter what else is going on. This is happening to you just as much as it is to me."

She takes one more deep breath before, placing a hand over her chest and slowing her breathing, obviously trying to relax herself. "Okay, Manson," She tells herself firmly. "That's enough of that. Danny needs a friend to help him with this, _not_ another damsel in distress. So you need to get it together."

"No you don't, Sam. It's okay if you need to fall apart sometimes. That's why you have friends. To help put you back together."

As much as he would like to be able to tell _this_ Sam that, and maybe save her from any nightmares she has in the future, he knows it's something that's going to have to wait until he's got his Sam back. But they will talk about this. Because Sam does so much for him, cares so much, that she's clearly pushing aside a very real and justified fear to make Danny's burden just a little bit easier to bear. He places a hand on his best friend's shoulder, letting it hover just above making actual contact because he knows, otherwise, it'll just pass through her.

"But tonight," Sam's voice sounds tiny as she pulls the blankets tighter around her. "Tonight I'm going to be a little bit scared."

"Be scared tonight, Sam. I'll stay with you until you aren't scared anymore. I promise."

Sam sits there for a little while, her breathing slow but her posture still tense. He can tell it initially takes a lot of effort for his friend to keep herself calm, but slowly but surely, her shoulders relax and her eyes start to droop before she slumps back over onto her bed, nuzzling her head into one of her many pillows. She's sleeping peacefully again before Danny knows it and he smiles down at the form of his best friend.

"Sleep peacefully, Sam. No more nightmares, okay?"

Though she can't actually hear him, the content sigh she gives is reply enough for the halfa.

He stands and quickly makes his way back out onto the street. It's clear that his Sam isn't there. He frowns at the thought. His Sam hasn't actually been in any of the places that Clockwork's messengers have sent him. Just memories of her that remind Danny of how truly lucky he is to have a friend like her in his life. She's different then Tucker who cracks jokes at the worst possible moment and sometimes gets jealous of Danny for reasons the dark haired boy still can't figure out. If Tucker wants the ghost powers, there are days when Danny would gladly swap with him. Uncle Ben was right, with great power comes great responsibility. A lot more responsibility than any 14 year old should have.

The halfa groans as he begins floating down the street, hoping to catch some glimpse of either Clockwork or Sam. "This is why Sam doesn't think she can come to me with stuff like nightmares." He raps his knuckles against his forehead with just a little more force than necessary. "Got to work on that." Sam does too much for him already. She helps him get out trouble, helps him transform undetected, helps him fight the ghosts, and apparently she's even pushing aside her own feelings to help him. And there's no need for that last one.

It's just another impressive display of her courage though, Danny realizes as he floats through Amity Park. Because as terrified as the girl in the bedroom had just been, Sam had come to school the next day as if nothing had happened. And she faced the next ghost that had shown up head on with him. She'd even taken getting possessed by the ghost of a dragon pretty well, all things considered. He sometimes wondered how she handled all of that on her own, but he shakes his head as he remembers her words from the park early that day (was it still technically Saturday? Time travel seriously gave him a headache).

 _We'll make sure we find a way._ All _of us._

"We're in this together, aren't we Sam." Danny chuckles to himself as the realization washes over him. "You're okay because you've got me and I'm okay because I've got you and it's the endless loop of getting through all of this craziness because we have each other. And, like always, you're two steps ahead of me." He chuckles harder. "If I wasn't a C student, I would have thought of that a long time ago."

His good mood is cut short by his ghost sense going off and he stops in his track as another ghost materializes before him.

This one looks kind of like he would much rather be at the beach than here in Danny's time line, but the medallion hanging from his neck suggests that he's here for on a mission. "Sup little dude!"

Danny raises an eyebrow at the other ghost because the ghost can't be much older than him. "Uh...hi?"

"So I'm guessing you already know why I'm here." The surfer ghost shoots him a wide grin.

"Pretty much." Danny replies. "So just give me the next year and you can get back to whatever ghostly waves you were catching."

The ghost laughs. "You're funny, little dude. Aren't many waves to catch in the Ghost Zone. And you?" Surfer Ghost shakes his head. "You aren't going to another year. You've got some more places in your present to check out, man."

"I do?" Danny lifts up his medallion and shows the messenger ghost how it's already showing 2005. "And how am I supposed to get there? There's nothing besides the year on this stupid thing!"

"Chillax." The ghost points to his medallion. "You just press the button again. It knows where to take you."

Danny eyes the other ghost suspiciously. "Yeah...how does it know that?"

The surfer ghost shrugs. "No clue, little dude. I just barely got my surf board floating properly. That kind of stuff is _way_ out of my league."

The halfa sighs, not sure what other answer he could have expected, but he's getting pretty sick of this wild goose chase. "Maybe I'll just go back to my present, before I left and kick Clockwork's butt there."

"Uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Danny looks up from where he's busy fiddling with dial, he realizes he has no way of making it more specific than the year, which is already the year he wants to go to, but he'd been hoping Clockwork had kept this other ghost out of the loop enough that he would buy into Danny's threat. "Why not?"

"Well, first of all, I'm not sure it will take you there. It's got a mind of its own-"

"More like it's got Clockwork's mind." The halfa mutters bitterly under his breath.

The surfer ghost continues on as if he hasn't heard Danny. "But I do that if you do manage to get back to the time you left from, that the medallion will stop working. You go back with your friend, dude, or you don't get her back at all."

Danny's eyes widen. "That...that's good information to know. Thanks...I guess."

The other ghost smiles brightly again. "No problem, man. Wish I could help more, but I've got my orders. Catch you later!" And with that he rips the medallion from around his next and they both fade out of sight.

"Oh goody." Danny grumbles, good mood officially gone.

Still, at least the ghost was nice enough to stop him before he got stuck back home without Sam. He presses the gold button again and isn't at all surprised when the portal opens in front of him. He steps inside without hesitation, although his threat lingers even after both he and the portal have disappeared from sight.

"You'd better not drop me on my face in front of Sam's house again!"

* * *

 _to be continued..._

* * *

And there's chapter six. This story is actually probably going to end up being a chapter shorter than I originally planned, but it should still be 12 or 13 chapters. Thanks for sticking with me guys! (assuming anyone actually is sticking with me haha). Leave a review! It really makes my day!


	7. Chapter 7

And now... Chapter 7!

 **Author's Note:**

Sorry this is up late again. I meant to upload it yesterday, but I had a bad day at work and it kind of put me in a funk and I didn't really do much of anything except feel bad yesterday. But it's here now!

Also, a big thank you to those of you who left reviews to let me know you guys are enjoying this. I promise I wasn't getting discouraged by the lack of them. I knew going in to this that the fandom was largely inactive so I wouldn't be getting much. But I really appreciate you guys letting me know that you're reading and enjoying this!

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

* * *

 ** _October 200_** ** _5_**

The portal drops Danny off gently on the ground and the halfa can't help the grin and shout of triumph he gives, cheering as he throws his arms up in celebration at not landing on his face or backside. The celebration is short lived, however, as he takes notice of his rather dark and dreary surroundings. It's gloomy here, and not just because it's the very nearly abandoned train station (the _Circus_ _Gothica_ train is actually the only train Amity Park had seen in years. No one even worked there anymore). In fact, most of the doom and gloom that seems to seep into his skin from the very air around him seems to becoming from the large black tent that's set up just a few feet in front of him.

"Welcome," Danny says, making his voice as dark and creepy as possible, "to _Circus Gothica_." He chuckles before floating into the tent. It's kind of like seeing the inside of the tent for the first time, since he's only other memories of it are a blur from being under Freakshow's control.

It's not set up much differently from a regular circus tent, minus the fact that everyone, including the audience, is dressed in shades of grey and black and the occasional purple. There are even clowns, although these are sadder and creepier then any clowns Danny remembers from his childhood (which, to him, is really saying something because even normal clowns had always seemed especially sad and creepy to him). And in the middle of it all is Freakshow, the center of attention, just like he'd always wanted him to be.

Except, after studying the scene for a second, Danny realizes that that's wrong. Freakshow isn't the center of attention. He is, in fact, gesturing upwards towards whatever actually has the audience so captivated. The halfa lets his gaze travel up, following the ring leader's out stretched hands and if his heart had currently been beating, it would have stopped at the sight that greets him.

It's Sam. On the high wire, blindfolded and wobbling precariously back and forth. And behind her is...himself.

He's dressed in a grey cloak that makes him look like the Grim Reaper, which really irks him because he's the good guy, dammit! Of course that just makes him think of the debates he's had with Sam about the inherent evil of death and dying and he's not really interested in revisiting that discussion right now. Instead, he focuses all his attention on his friend and his other self. The only parts of him that he can really see are his snow white hair and his eyes, which are red and soulless and even from well below them, they make Danny shiver. It scares him to know that he can look like that. Like the interior of the tent, his actions while under Freakshow's control also mostly elude him. He's got a vague memory of cops chasing him and he can still sometimes feel the phantom weight of the jewels he'd worn during one of their many heists, but aside from that it's a bunch of blurred images that he can't really make sense of.

This other Danny, this one that's him but not him at the same (god, he hates how confusing time travel apparently is) lifts the scythe he's holding and cuts the blindfold from Sam's face. There are a few moments where it looks like nothing is happening, but Danny can see Sam talking to him, pleading at him to shake off the spell. He has vague memories of that too. Of Sam begging him to throw off the ring leader's hold and come back to her. And then, the heart Danny didn't know his ghost side even had, goes dropping to the floor along with his best friend as his past self cuts the rope and sends her plummeting. He's already shooting towards her, arms outstretched before he even remembers that he won't be able to catch her, even if he reaches her in time.

He pulls up short as a grey blur whizzes past him and he realizes that it's himself just as the other Danny catches Sam and sets her safely on the ground. The halfa grins and flies over, glad that he'd been able to throw off Freakshow's control in order to save her. It's odd that he doesn't have a clearer memory of it, but he figures it's not something he has time to think about right now.

"Danny!" The friend gasps as she gets her bearings back. "Don't scare me like that!"

"I'm sorry." Present Danny tells her, wishing he could reach out and place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I didn't know I was doing it."

"How should I scare you?" The other Danny says, his eyes turning back from green to red as he leans in to growl the worlds at her.

He sees her eyes widen in shock, but his other self takes no notice of it, already flying back to Freakshow. Tucker finds Sam then, and after the Goth girl explains the situation to her friend, they both go running out of the tent. Danny wants to follow them, to go anywhere that isn't here, but he can't. He's kind of rooted to the spot and just staring at the where he and his best friend had just been. Where he'd almost gotten her killed.

Where he'd almost killed her.

He and Sam and Tucker had sat down shortly after the Lunch Lady ghost incident, when they'd all realized that this accident of Danny's was actually a lot more than just an accident. They'd talked about how dangerous it could be, how any one of them could get hurt. Or worse. And Danny had given them both the chance to walk away, no questions asked and no hard feelings, because most fourteen year olds did not sign up to have their lives in danger every weekend. But they'd both agreed without hesitation that they were in this with Danny, no matter the potential consequences. And he'd known that they could get hurt. That one day he might not be fast enough or strong enough to handle whatever creep snuck out of the Ghost Zone. He knew there might come a time when his friends would pay the price for his shortcomings.

But that was different than what he'd just witnessed. Different than him being the one holding the weapon.

Even though he'd been under Freakshow's control at the time, if something had happened to Sam, if he hadn't shaken off the mind control long enough to save her...well he knows himself. And he knows there's no way anyone could have possibly convinced him that it was anything less than his fault. Sam dying because of him is completely different than Sam dying by his own hand.

The show continues on around him, but he pays it no mind, still lost in thought. He'd never really thought about it like that before, that his ghost powers could be a danger to his friends. Get them into dangerous situations? Definitely. Be pretty dangerous for the other ghosts and the town property that accidentally got caught up in his latest fight? For sure. But he'd never actively thought about the fact that _his_ ghost powers (that he) could hurt his friends before.

Mostly because he'd sworn to himself after the Lunch Lady incident that he'd never let anything happen to them. Even Vlad, who was deranged enough to go after his father, hadn't tried to hurt them yet.

But despite all of this, despite the cold clench in his gut at the memory of Sam free falling off the wire (which has now been super imposed over an image of Sam free falling from a moving train that he hadn't clearly had before this either), there's this warmth that's helping him relax. Because yes, he'd done a terrible thing and sent his best friend falling to the ground without a net below her, and yes, once she was safely back on her feet he'd slipped back into the mind control and threatened to do her more harm. But between that, in the time when Sam had needed him the most, he'd been able to shake off the control, to go against Freakshow's wishes and race down after his friend, catch her in his arms, and make sure that she didn't come to any harm. Not even by his own hand.

It's this that calms him down enough to finally get moving again. The knowledge that he didn't let Sam down even when he was being controlled by a bad guy and that he can't –he _won't_ \- let her down now. Failure isn't an option, not where Sam is concerned. And if he's honest with himself, it never has been.

And, well, his ghost sense helps kick him out of the shock too, but the first reason sounds a lot more heroic.

He knows that the presence of his ghost sense means that there's another ghost in the wrong time here, which means another messenger for Clockwork. Which means that, yet again, he's been sent to the wrong place.

"Is he doing this on purpose?" Danny wonders, as he floats back out of the tent. "Or does he just get bored waiting for me and move on to a different time. That's it. I've _got_ to spend less time reminiscing and more time actually searching for Sam. All I've done so far is waste time."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, dear."

Danny turns at the sound of the elderly voice and his eyes almost widen at the sight before him. "Mrs. Manson!"

Because that's definitely Sam's grandmother floating in front of him. She's even got her motorized scooter and, of course, the tell tale medallion that means she comes from Clockwork. "Oh no..."

"Relax, Danny." The other woman tells, smiling gently. "Clockwork just thought you could use a friendly face right about now." Her eyes slide towards the tent and he wonders briefly how much she was present for. "Besides, he's the master of time. Don't you worry. I lived a good long life before he ever came to me. And you know," she winks, "being a ghost ain't half bad."

There's a flash of light and the woman he's so familiar with disappears, only to be replaced by a young woman who looks a lot like Sam, short black hair, expressive light colored eyes, and a smile that promises the best kind of trouble. Her motorized scooter is even a moped now, to go a long with the driving outfit she's wearing.

Danny smiles at the lady in front of him. "I always wondered where Sam got her looks from."

"Her personality too." The now young lady winks again before turning serious. "I suppose you already know why I'm here."

The halfa nods. "Tell me where to go next. I promise this time I won't get caught up in memories. I'll find Sam."

"Don't be in such a rush. You children, always in such a hurry to get everywhere." She shakes her head, but the smile she shoots Danny is kind and familiar. "There's a reason you go to the places you go, and you'll miss out on that reason completely if you don't take the time to look around."

"But Sam-"

"Will be fine, bubala." the term of endearment catches Danny off guard, but it probably shouldn't. Sam's grandmother was always the only one in her family that liked him. "You have things to do and at the end of your journey Sam will be waiting for you. Now, I won't say it won't be hard, because we both know better than to think you'd believe that. But it will be worth it."

"Of course it will be," Danny replies automatically, "anything that gets Sam back will be worth it."

She smiles at him, the same knowing smile that he gets from Jazz and Tucker and even his mom and dad occasionally. "Well then, now that that's settled. You've got one more stop in the year 2005. I'll see you in a few years, Danny."

Before he can really process her parting statement, she's taken off her medallion and faded out of sight. With a shake of his head, Danny tries not to worry about it too much. So what if he still visits the Ghost Zone in the future. It's not like this is new information after all. Instead, he just pushes the gold button and waits for the portal to spring to life.

"I don't know what's waiting for me on the other side of this thing," He mutters to himself as he steps in and vanishes, "But I guess I'm about to find out."

* * *

 ** _2015_**

"As the time line currently stands," Clockwork begins softly, waving his staff and turning to face the images that spring to life on one of the empty walls in Tucker's new home, "your Danny cheats on his C.A.T. next year."

"He what?"

The ghost, now looking like small child, nods. "Yes. He is so busy taking care of ghosts that he apparently felt he didn't have sufficient time to study. And when the answers to the test fall into his hands through a ghostly accident...he decides to use them. And his teacher finds out."

The scene on the walls shifts from Danny pulling the answers out of his backpack to Mr. Lancer standing in front of the Nasty Burger despite the _closed for repairs_ sign hanging on the door behind him. The Fenton RV pulls up in front of the restaurant and Maddie, Jack, and Jazz Fenton all jump out and Mr. Lancer begins talking to them, although Sam and Tucker can't hear what they're saying.

"He brings in Danny's family to discuss the incident, unaware that Danny is luring a particularly powerful ghost to the area, believing it to be free of civilians and therefore a safe place to do battle." Clockwork continues. "I'm afraid poor Daniel didn't know about this meeting or your attempts to cover for his cheating and sudden absence."

On screen, Sam and Tucker, both alive and looking much like they do know, although Sam's hair is a bit longer and she apparently trades her black t-shirt for a purple long sleeved shirt and Tucker isn't wearing glasses, run up to the adults and both beginning talking at once, arms waving dramatically.

"And when Daniel arrives with the ghost..." Danny arrives on the scene, chasing a large and grotesque ghost, one neither Sam nor Tucker has ever seen. "Well...I'm afraid you never had a chance."

Sam watch's in horror as the ghost shoots a ghost ray into the Nasty Burger and the building explodes in a flash of light, the fire consuming all six humans standing by its entrance in an instant. The Danny on screen's eyes widen in horror and Sam doesn't have to be able to hear the what's happening to know that her friend is screaming for everything he's worth, turning human and falling to the ground.

"After that, the future is much like this Tucker described it to you. He went to the home of the other half ghost, was separated from his ghost half who then joined with the other ghost half and created the ghost you saw earlier."

"But..." Sam's brows furrow together in confusion. "But Tucker says that _that_ Danny is the one who killed him. But the ghost you just showed us wasn't him. And that was a year later. How is that possible?"

"Because you were never kidnapped in the original time line." Clockwork explains, shifting from a young adult to an old man. "And Daniel never went after you. But now he has and the future has been rewritten." He chuckles, turning into a small child once again, "And now we're rewriting the rewrite."

Sam brings her hands up to rub at her temples. "My head hurts."

Clockwork nods. "Time travel will do that to you. All that you need to know is that the original Dan Phantom, through certain events, came to exist outside of time, which means that just going back and changing the past will not eliminate him."

Understanding blossoms in the Goth girl's amethyst eyes. "And you needed me so that Danny would give chase and then you'll lead him right to his evil future self so he can beat him, right?"

The ghost of time smiles, but it's more cryptic then Sam would like. "Something like that."

"But how does Dan Phantom end up existing outside of time?"

" _That_ is something that should be discussed once we've reconvened with Daniel." Clockwork tells her firmly. "All you need to know if that because of this chase, Dan Phantom gets a hold of one of my medallions and is able to go back in time to ensure his existence, a year earlier."

"He couldn't just do that before?" This time it's Tucker who speaks up.

Clockwork shakes his head, shifting his form again. "Even if he exists outside of time, he can only move forward with it. _I_ am the only one who is capable of seeing all of time and traveling back and forth as I choose. But trust me child. We are on the same side here. Dan Phantom is as big a threat to the Ghost Zone as he is to the human realm. Speaking of which," He waves his staff once more and the images on the wall disappear. "We really should get going."

"Wait!" Both the girl and the ghost turn to face Tucker's ghost as he speaks. "Before you go, there's something I think you should know Sam. Something that might help."

Sam nods eagerly at her friend. "Tell me everything you've got."

"Well, I've had a lot of time to study ghosts." He smiles softly. "Being one really helps too. And it turns out every ghost has an obsession."

Sam blinks at him, obviously trying to digest the information. "Well, I mean..."

"I sort of suspected it, back before all of this happened, so I'm sure you did too. What with Skulker and his hunting, Technus and his technology, and especially the Box Ghost and his-"

"Cardboard containers of doom." The two friends finish together, laughing softly.

"Anyways," Tucker continues seriously, "Danny had one too. Halfa human, halfa ghost after all. It would only make sense he had an obsession too. But it was different with him. He was still technically living and I think that influenced his obsession. Kept it from getting too out of control and also meant that it could be changed as what was most important to Danny changed."

"I..." Sam shakes her head. "I can't believe this. I mean I can, but Danny's always seemed so human. Even when he's in ghost mode."

The techno geek ghost nods in agreement, before jerking at thumb at Clockwork. "Some ghosts, like Clockwork and the Observers-"

"The who?"

"They're a group of ghosts who, well, observe. And protect. Not important. The point is, some ghosts like that exist outside of time and the rules of life and death. They just _are_. They were never humans who died and had spirits left behind in their wake. But ghosts like Ember or Desiree or even the Fright Knight were all living humans once and what they died holding most important, they held onto in death. It's kind of what keeps them grounded here. At least, as far as I can tell." Tucker pulls out his PDA and taps a few buttons on it, obviously looking for more notes.

"And Danny had one too. From the moment he stepped into the ghost portal and got zapped."

"He did?"

Her friend gives her a bemused smile, eyes gentle. "Of course he did, Sam. It was you."

"Me?" The Goth takes a step back in surprise, eyes flickering to where Danny is still sitting silently, starring at her. "What are you talking about? That's ridiculous."

"Is it?" Tucker shrugs nonchalantly. "Think about it. He goes into the portal, gets zapped half to death, and is probably thinking about you since you're the reason he's in there in the first place. Except he doesn't die. Not really, not fully. So the obsession is only half as strong and he's so busy trying to figure out this whole 'having powers thing' that it doesn't really register on anyone's radar. Then the Lunch Lady attack happens and who does she go after?"

"Me..."

He nods. "Exactly. So suddenly Danny's Phantom's obsession, influenced by Danny Fenton's desires, was to keep you safe. Eventually it grew until it was 'keep everyone safe'. The town, the people, all of it was Danny's to protect. It's why it was so easy for him to jump into the EctoSkeleton and go after Pariah Dark. Because he's ghost half wouldn't have let him _not_ do it."

"That's..." Sam struggles to find the words to describe what she's hearing. Because it's crazy, but her best friend also has ghost powers, so maybe crazy is just what works for them. "But why are you telling me all of this? How's it going to help?"

"Because Sam," Tucker stresses, grabbing the girl's shoulders so that he's sure he's got her undivided attention. "It's the reason _Dan_ Phantom exists."

Her eyes widen in shock. "What?"

Tucker's eyes slip shut as he nods solemnly. "When Danny went to Vlad his human half had wanted to end the pain so his new ghostly obsession was just to be blank, to be gone. And when Vlad Masters took pity on him and separated his human half from his ghost half, that was still his new obsession. But he was only half an entity, not capable of much."

"And then he took the ghost gauntlets and separated Masters and Plasmius, before joining with Vlad's ghost half..." The wheels are turning in Sam's brain, pieces starting to come together.

"And when Plasmius' ghostly obsession of revenge and ruling the world met Phantom's ghostly obsession with just being blank..."

Sam sinks to her knees as the implications of what Tucker is saying hits her fully.

"Plasmius' side technically won out, but his obsession changed. He didn't want to rule the world. He wanted to destroy it."

"To make it blank." Sam buries her face in her hands. "Oh Danny." She's really not one for crying, but she can feel herself choking back a sob as she imagines what her best friend must have gone through to end up where he is in this future.

A gentle had on her shoulder brings her out of her misery and she turns her head to find herself looking into the icy blue eyes of her best friend.

"Sammy..."

Two of the room's three other occupants look at the man in open shock. Tucker's face becomes grim with determination and he nods. "That tears it," He turns to Clockwork, "I'm coming with you." His tone leaves no room for argument.

"Tucker!" Sam gets up, brushing off her shirt has she does so, though this motion is entirely for the purpose of discreetly hiding the way she points at twenty four year old Danny Fenton. "What about your, uh, "obligations"?"

" _Danny_ ," Tucker says firmly, still sure that their friend can't really comprehend what's going on, even if somewhere deep down he's recognized Sam, "is coming with me. With us."

Sam blows out a breath. "That seems like it might be a bad idea." She turns to Clockwork, obviously hoping for support.

Instead of agreeing, however, Clockwork just glances over at their two new travel companions. He smirks, and Sam and Tucker both get the impression that this decision (because really, it's a decision. Tucker was definitely not asking a question) neither surprises him nor goes against whatever plan he's got floating around in his ghost head. And Sam supposes that it shouldn't. If he really can see all of time, then he's probably been forming this plan for a very long time.

"Well," The older ghost gestures towards the door with his staff, "I suppose we ought to get going then."

Sam knows then and there that she's lost the argument. Tucker and Danny are coming with and, if the smirk on Clockwork's face is anything to go by, they were always meant to.

* * *

 _to be continued..._

* * *

And there's chapter seven! Thanks for sticking with me, because we are officially half way through. One more moment from the present and then Danny is on to meet his future! Leave a review and let me know what you guys think!


	8. Chapter 8

Presenting Chapter 8!

 **Author's Note:**

Okay, so you guys are going to laugh at me when I tell you why this update is so late. So I wanted to upload this Friday, but we were going to a hockey game and the state fair after work so I rushed home and read it over for typos and then uploaded it into my document manager and then realized what time it was and had to hope into the shower so I promised myself I'd hurry up and get ready and then add the author's note and upload it real quick once I was ready. I ended up not having time to do that, and by the time we got home at 3 a.m. and forgot that I hadn't actually uploaded it yet and only just realized it this morning, that it's been sitting in my document manager but not actually uploaded to the story since Friday afternoon. I'm so sorry about that.

A huge thank you to everyone who's left reviews! I can't tell you how much I enjoy reading them!

Anyways, that's all I've got for this chapter. That and, of course, the standard disclaimer about typos. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

* * *

 ** _November_ _2005_**

The portal drops him off in front of his house again, just like the first time. Only this time it looks exactly like Danny remembers last seeing it. Complete with the currently running ghost shield. Except the ghost shield isn't just surrounding his house, it surrounds a good portion of the town as well. A quick glance skyward confirms his suspicions as he's greeted with the sight of the Ghost Zone rather than the normally cheery blue sky. He knows exactly which part of his present he's in.

Now he only wonders if he's already left to fight Pariah Dark or not.

Figuring the easiest way to answer his question is to go inside; he floats through his front door. His living room is empty save for Valerie, who's alternating between watching the local news report about the current ghost situation and flicking her gaze to the basement. Down in the lab, Danny finds his parents and Mr. Grey. His mother is tinkering on some ghost weapons and explaining to Mr. Grey how they work while his dad sits just a little ways away, working on a weapon of his own. The oldest Fenton male still looks completely warn out from using the Ecto-Skeleton earlier, but the color has started to return to his face and he's moving with something more like his usual energy. Danny's not sure where the Mansons and the Foley's have gone, -or Vlad for that matter- but he figures it's probably best to assume that they've gone back to their own homes. The Mansons, at least, would have wanted to be with Sam's grandmother just in case things didn't end well.

Finding nothing else of interest in the lab, Danny floats up to Jazz's room and finds his older sister pacing around the room nervously, occasionally stopping to stare out the window. "Please be safe." She tells whatever she's trying to see in the distance. "Please."

He's almost tempted to stay and see what she's talking about, but he knows for a fact that Clockwork wouldn't have sent him here to watch his sister talk to herself. Every other memory he's revisited has had to do with Sam and if he wants the next clue in this treasure hunt (because really, that's what it's become –maybe what it's always been, despite Clockwork calling it hide-n-seek), he knows he has to find her. She was the first thing he'd seen when he'd woken up after locking away the Ghost King, so he figures the chances of her being around his house somewhere are pretty good. Especially since the portal saw fit to bring him here and not someplace else.

His last stop will be the Ops Center, but first he pokes his head into his bedroom. And that's exactly where he finds them, Tucker sitting at his desk and half heartedly fiddling with his computer and Sam sitting on his bed, tucked up against his headboard, hugging his pillow to her chest.

Whatever questions Sam might ask him about his journey when he finally finds her, he cannot tell her about seeing this. She would beat him the rest of the way to death if he ever admitted to seeing her scared, vulnerable, and wrapped around his pillow like it's her lifeline.

He's definitely going to be remembering this moment fondly though.

Sam lifts her eyes from where they'd be starring at his comforter and turns her head to look out the window, her worry written all over her face. She shifts slightly, just enough so that she can comfortably stare up at the sky. Her movement draws Tucker's attention away from the computer and he gets up and makes his way over to her. He sits down next to her and puts a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?" He asks as Sam tears her gaze away from the sky to glance at him briefly before going right back to looking out the window.

She sighs and shakes her head. "I-I'm scared, Tuck. This is...I mean," She hugs the pillow tighter to her chest, "I know he's right. It _wasn't_ always going be as easy as catching the box ghost but...but what if this is too much."

"Come on," Tucker tries to reassure his friend, although it must be hard when he sounds like he's carrying around his own worries, "you know Danny is going defeat this guy. He's _Danny Phantom_! He can do anything."

"I know that." Sam's voice is tiny and just close enough to broken sounding that it makes Danny's own heart ache to hear it. "I'm not afraid he won't beat Pariah Dark. Of course he will. But he-" her voice catches and she buries her head in the pillow as she takes a few deep breaths to calm herself. "But just because he can beat him doesn't mean..." Her voice drops to a whisper. "It doesn't necessarily mean he'll come home alive."

Danny remembers his own words to the ghost king – _I don't have to_ win. _I just have to make sure you_ lose _!_ \- and it amazes him how in sync his and Sam's minds are sometimes. She's a teenage girl and he's a teenage boy and sometimes it feels like they're living on two different planets and they'll have miscommunications and mix ups about the smallest stuff. But when it comes to the big things, to the really important things, he and Sam always seem to be in sync. And it's nice, knowing in the back of his head that he's not alone in the way he thinks. Mostly. He'll probably never understand why she hates Paulina and he's sure she'll never understand why he liked her. But those little disagreements (even when they seem not so little) don't matter in the grand scheme of things because something else will happen moments later and Danny will catch Sam's eye and know that they're right back to being on the same page.

Back in the moment, Tucker's face turns grim at Sam's words and Danny can see his friend struggling between accepting the reality of the statement and his blindly optimistic faith in Danny. Something settles in his face and he shakes his head firmly. "No way. He'll come home, Sam. He will."

The Goth girl finally turns her gaze from the window to face her friend. "I want to believe that. But...that ghost is stronger than anything he's ever faced before. _And_ he's wearing the Ecto-Skeleton..."

"I know it looks bad. But I know he'll come home because he knows that we're here waiting for him to come back –that _you're_ waiting for him to come back. And, you know," Tucker smiles gently, trying to coax a similar response out of his friend, "he has to do this. He couldn't _not_ do this; protect the things he loves against all odds. _You_ taught him that."

Sam takes in a shaky breath and gives the techno geek a tentative smile. "I did, didn't I?"

Tucker nudges her playfully. "You did. It's all your fault he's such a hero."

"Nah." Sam shakes her head, but her tone is lighter than it was a moment ago. "Danny's always had that in him."

The teen shakes his head disbelief. "It never ceases to amaze me, the way you two can completely not notice the effect you have on each other."

"It's not that." Sam shakes her head again. "I know I wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for Danny –and you- and I know that the same is true for him. But stuff like this," She turns her gaze skyward again, just briefly, before turning back to face her friend, "all his truly great achievements? Those are all him."

"Guess we'll have to agree to disagree, Sam." Danny says as he watches his two friends with a gentle smile.

"Whatever you say, Goth girl." Tucker rolls his eyes playfully before turning serious again. "Feel better?"

Sam shrugs. "A little. I'm still scared, but I don't think anything is going to help that. Not until Danny comes back safely. I just...I hate just sitting here. We should be helping him!"

Tucker's silent for a few moments before his face lights up in the way that lets Danny know he's just had what he considers a brilliant idea. "Want to get the Specter Speeder and go get Danny a few ghostly allies?"

And sometimes those ideas actually are pretty brilliant.

Sam perks up considerably at the idea. "You think we can get them to listen to us?"

"Who knows?" It's Tucker's turn to shrug. "But if they're as worried about their home being taken over as they say they are, than they should be willing to help Danny out, even if it's just this once."

"A temporary truce?" Sam mulls it over. "We'll have to go straight to Skulker. The other ghosts respect him. If he'll go and fight with Danny then they all will."

Tucker nods. "Right!" He stands up and smiles. "Let's go see our ghost boy one more time. And maybe this time, before we leave, you can tell him-"

"No." Sam shakes her head as she stands up. "That's the last thing that Danny needs right now."

"Maybe when he gets back..." The techo geek continues to prod.

The Goth girl rolls her eyes, making her way to the door. "Maybe _when_ he gets back. If the time is right."

Tucker grins at her words, glad that her worry seems to have been pushed aside how that they have some sort of active plan. "Good enough for me."

And then they're out the door. Danny grins after them. He'd always been sort of disappointed that he'd missed his friends convincing Skulker to come and help Danny fight the frankly ridiculously large skeleton ghost army that Pariah Dark had standing guard outside his castle. Tucker had told him once that Sam had threatened Skulker with something that would have made her mother faint to hear coming out of her little girl's mouth. And even though he's got the opportunity to finally get to see it, he stays right where he is, settling on his bed and grabbing the pillow that Sam had been holding.

He vaguely remembers waking up after locking the Ghost King back into his Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep and being surrounded by the floral scent he'd come to identify as 'Sam' in the back of his mind. And now he knows why. It had been comforting. Which had seemed odd, because what could possibly be more comforting than waking up in your own bed when you'd been sure that you were going to die.

His mind turns back to Tucker's words and he wonders, not for the first time, what exactly Sam was going to say to him after he'd put on the Ecto-Skeleton. What would she have told him if Pariah Dark hadn't made his presence known when he did? His stomach gives a funny flip as he thinks about it. Because maybe there's any number of things that she could have said to him –and honestly, that's one of the reasons he never brought it up after the fact. Sam had been there, smiling at him as he'd blinked his way back into consciousness, and at the time, that had been enough- but really, the most likely thing she could have said was, well that maybe her feelings went deeper than friendship.

It makes Danny's stomach churn to think about it. Not in the 'I ate something _really_ bad last night and now it's all about to make a reappearance' kind of way, but more in the 'this is the tallest, fastest, most wicked awesome roller coaster I have ever been on and I think I'm _still_ about to barf from that first drop, but man oh man was it worth it' kind of way. But it's also kind of terrifying to think about. And confusing.

He loves Sam. He knows that. And it's different than how he feels about Tucker or his parents and Jazz. But it's also different than how he used to feel about Paulina. How he's kind of starting to feel about Valerie, a little bit. But he's always felt that way about her. Just because he's starting to become aware of the fact that she's, you know, a _girl_ –an attractive girl no less- doesn't necessarily mean that he wants that kind of relationship with her. After all, it's completely normal for a teenage boy to notice teenage girl, and honestly she walks around in a skirt and crop top. It's hard not to notice in clothes like that.

Maybe this is just how he feels about Sam working itself out with the fact that he's suddenly starting to notice her as a female and not just his friend. Maybe how he feels about her is different because she's not family, like Jazz and his parents, but also not a boy, like Tucker. And maybe the memory of Sam kissing Dash makes his chest ache even now, months after Ember's spell had been broken, because he's just...protective?

Danny sighs to himself and puts the pillow back down. The truth is...as confusing as what he feels for Sam is, he knows, at least a little, what it all means.

But if there's one thing Danny is sure of, especially after this adventure into his past, it's that his friendship with Sam is probably one of the most important things in his life. Sam had been right when she'd told Tucker that Danny wouldn't be who he was today without her. He knows what his life would have been like if he'd never had her in it, but he doesn't even want to think about what his life would be like if he suddenly lost her. If he had all these amazing memories of Sam, but didn't have her anymore. He's not sure he'd even be strong enough to survive that. Not really.

And _that_ , well that's a really big realization for a fourteen year old boy. Too big a realization. And maybe it's not his feelings that are confusing him, but whether or not it's worth the risk to act on them.

And maybe he's not ready to figure that out just yet. But he will be. Eventually.

He shakes his head and floats up to Ops Center, mostly just to get himself moving before he gets even more lost in his thoughts. But all that does is lead him to more questions. More specifically just what Clockwork wanted him to do for him? So far Danny hadn't done anything besides be reminded just how important a figure Sam is in his life and how much he cares for her. And somehow he doubts the ghost is trying to help him with his fairly nonexistent love life.

He groans and buries his face is his hands. He seriously does not understand any of this.

"I suppose you'd like some answers, wouldn't you ghost child?"

His head snaps back up at the sound of another voice and blanches at the sight of what appears to be Skulker and Technus...combined. He shakes his head. "I don't even want to know."

"And you won't." Skulker tells him, "Not if we can help it."

"Seriously?" Danny's fists start to glow as he readies a ghost ray. "I so don't have time for this."

"Relax." Technus speaks this time and Danny shudders at the reminder that two of his enemies have, uh, upgraded together. The ghost (ghosts?) point to where one of Clockwork's medallions rest against their chest. "We are Skulktech 9.9 and we are not here to fight. Not this time."

"We're here to send you to the answers you're seeking." Skulker continues smoothly. "It's time for you to search your future and fix the mistakes of your past."

"You know," Technus cuts in, "technically it's still the mistakes of his future."

"Be quiet!" Skulker command's giving the center of his chest, where Technus' face peers out at the world through a screen, a quick thump with his fist. He ignores the other ghost's cry of pain and turns his attention back to Danny. "It's time to visit the year 2015. It's there that you'll find the answers that you seek. And, perhaps, if you are as capable as Clockwork believes you are, we won't meet again. At least, not like _this_." He gestures to the hybrid that he and the other ghost have become.

"What are you talking about?"

"Believe me, ghost child." And Danny almost wants to chuckle at the exasperated tone in which Skulker speaks. "This was an invention of necessity. Not of choice."

"I don't entirely understand, but...well thanks," he gestures to his own medallion, "for this."

The ghost(s?) nod once. "And good luck, Danny Phantom. More than you know rests on what you do at the end of your journey."

And with that cryptic message, the ghost hybrid reaches up and rips off its medallion, leaving Danny alone in the Ops Center once again.

"Okay." Danny breathes in deeply before turning the dials so that his medallion reads 2015 and presses the gold button. "It's the end of the road, Clockwork. Whatever else might be waiting for me in the future...Sam had better be there too."

* * *

 ** _2005_**

The first thing Jazz is aware of when she regains consciousness, is the cool metal against her back and the normally comforting heat of a presence next to her. And for a brief and very groggy second, it is actually comforting, the knowledge that she isn't alone. But then the memories of how she'd come to be unconscious in the first place flood back to her and the sign of another person next to her makes her feel sick. Because she' pretty sure she's about to die at the hands of the apparently evil future version of her little brother and she doesn't want anyone else to suffer with her.

She finally manages to open her eyes, though her lids feel heavy, as if they're made of lead and she gasps as she takes in her surroundings.

She's in the back of the Nasty Burger, in its kitchen, and stuck to what appears to be a large metal vat of...something. She's being held their by some green and glowing bond. She hasn't been actively studying ghosts for very long, but she's still from a family of ghost hunters and she's picked up on enough to know that her bonds, whatever they are exactly, are ghostly in nature. Which means they probably came from Dan and they probably won't be broken very easily.

That doesn't mean she isn't going to try, though. And she grunts as she struggles against it, trying desperately to break it or stretch it enough so she can slip out from underneath it. Forget capturing this ghost, she wants to get Tucker and get to the safety of Fenton works so that she can wait for Danny to return from wherever he is and save them.

"Don't bother."

Tucker's voice from beside her stills her movements and she turns her head to see the younger boy staring ahead of him, not really looking at anything in particular. "What?"

"I've been trying to get out for the past ten minutes. _Dan_ Phantom's powers are way more advanced than Danny's are. I can't break them. And you won't be able to either."

"Well," Jazz blows out a sharp breath and wishes that she could cross her arms over her chest to properly express her frustration, "we have to do _something_!"

"What _can_ we do?" The teen finally turns to look at her and Jazz is taken back by the hopelessness that she finds in his face. He shakes his head. "I just wish I knew what he wanted."

"He said..." Jazz's expression turns thoughtful as she tries to recall the little conversation she's been able to drag out of the other ghost before he'd knocked them both out. "He said something about ensuring his creation. I guess he meant ensuring that Danny's ghost half combined with Vlad's ghost half. Because that's how he came into existence."

"Yeah," Tucker nods, "But he also said something about ensuring it a little bit earlier than he'd originally planned. What did he mean by that?"

"Allow me to explain."

Both teens shudder at the reappearance of the evil voice, followed shortly by the reappearance of the ghost it belongs too. Dan Phantom phases into existence in front of them and Jazz gasps in horror at the sight of his two burdens.

"Mom! Dad!"

Dan takes no note of her crying out as he slams them against the metal vat, next to Jazz, and shoots a green ray from his head, effectively binding them to it. The only small mercy the ghost seems to have spared is the fact that they're both unconscious, unaware of what is happening to them.

"They put up a half decent fight, you know." Dan tells them as he wipes his hands together, as if trying to rid himself of any human particles that he may have contaminated himself with by touching them. "I was actually rather impressed."

"Why are you doing this? You said you wanted to ensure your creation but how is _this_ supposed to do that?"

Dan sighs. "I'd almost forgotten about annoyingly persistent you are." He tells her, but he seems to view her persistence as no threat because he actually answers her question.

"I exist, originally, because in 2006 Danny _Fenton_ loses his friends and family in a tragic ghost hunting accident. But now, thanks to a meddling ghost and _this_ ," Dan Phantom holds out a medallion with dials and four blank screens on its front. Jazz doesn't recognize it but Tucker lets out a strangled noise that sounds alarmingly like _Danny_. At the boy's reaction, Dan chuckles cruelly. "I thought you might recognize it. And it's the reason I could come back here and lead you on a wild chase across town, tiring you out and ensuring you'd be in the perfect place to destroy you."

"But if the past changed..." Jazz struggles to try and follow what the other ghost is saying. She can't shake the idea that this other ghost is still her little brother, even though he's shown repeatedly that there's nothing left of Danny in there, "then how can you still exist."

"That's the thing about the Ghost King," Dan shrugs, looking bored, "He doesn't really exist inside the constraints of time."

"And now," he lifts the medallion and dangles it tauntingly in front of the two teenagers, "I'd better go and fetch your precious _Danny_. I wouldn't want him to miss the show. But before I go," He smiles wickedly and pushes over the fry cooker that's resting next to the vat they're tied to. He reaches into it and pulls out the metal coil that rests at the bottom, the one that heats up the grease, and places it against the metal vat, "I have to thank you for the idea, Tucker. It was quite an...explosive one."

"What is he talking about?" Jazz looks at the techno geek quizzically.

Tucker watches in horror as Dan hits the on switch on the fryer and the coil immediately begins to turn to a bright red, obviously heating up the way it's supposed to. "He's talking about the Nasty Sauce! If you overheat it...it explodes!"

Jazz's eyes widen in horror. "You told him that!"

The teen shakes his head frantically. "No. I told Danny _Fenton_ that, earlier today. How was I supposed to know he turned evil in the future?"

"There you are spook!"

A new voice joins the fray and Tucker groans as someone in a red bodysuit flies into the restaurant, pointing a gun at Dan Phantom. They can just see her over the counter that separates the front of the store from the back.

"Valerie!" Tucker yells, trying to get the girls attention, "Get out of here! You don't understand. He's not an ordinary ghost, he's-"

"Be quiet!" Dan shouts in frustration, zapping Tucker with another ghost ray, this one binding over his mouth and keeping him from speaking.

Jazz's head is spinning because the only Valerie she knows is one of Danny's classmates, a pretty girl that she's only really seen once or twice. "She's fighting ghosts too?" She asks, but Tucker still can't talk and his affirmative nod doesn't answer any of the follow up questions she has. Still, as it stands, Valerie is their last chance at getting out of this alive, so she turns back to where the girl is confronting Dan.

"Well, well," Dan chuckles cruelly, "Valerie Grey. It's been a long time since I've seen you like this."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Valerie hoists her gun up, charging it as she does so, "And I don't care. You're toast!"

The gun fires, but Dan dodges it easily, mimicking a yawn as he shoots his own ghost ray and knocks the weapon out of her hands. "You always more of a 'shoot first, ask questions later' kind of girl." He lets another ghost ray fly and this one sends the teen flying off her hover board. She hits the ground, going skidding a few feet back. "I could just kill you now with them," He jerks a thumb over his shoulder, "But I'm actually looking forward to our future fights."

Valerie struggles to try and raise herself up on shaky arms and gasps at the sight behind the ghost. "The Fentons! And Tucker!"

"Yes." Dan nods, "And with Sam lost in the time stream they'll be no one left for me, I mean for _Danny_ , and everything will go according to plan."

"Danny? What does he have to do with this?"

"See, Valerie," Dan grins cruelly down at her before a ring of light surrounds him, traveling up his body and leaving fourteen year old Danny Fenton standing in his place, "This is why you should really start asking questions."

Valerie gasps at the sight of the boy she's starting to learn she likes as he leers down at her, an evil grin looking completely out of place on his face.

"Take a good look at the face that beat you, Valerie," He even sounds just like the Danny she knows, "because you won't ever be seeing it again."

Then he blasts her with a third ghost ray and she slumps to the ground, unconscious.

"This," Dan's voice returns to normal as he transforms back into his true form, "was entirely too easy." He picks up Valerie and throws the ghost hunter over his shoulder. "But first I think I'll go put her somewhere else. I'm not sure how big this explosion's going to be and I'd hate to miss out on getting to beat her so thoroughly in the future." He chuckles. "There's nothing like snatching victory away from an opponent who's sure they've secured it for themselves."

His cruel laughter echoes in the air around Jazz, Tucker, and the still unconscious Jack and Maddie as he turns towards the entrance of the restaurant and flies out, disappearing from view and leaving the three Fentons and one Foley to their fate.

The future waits for no one after all.

* * *

 _to be continued..._

* * *

And there's chapter 8! Hope you guys enjoyed it! The farther I get into writing this (I know, I know, I've been bad about writing the remaining chapters, but I sucked into a game ( _Eternal Sonata_ ) and a book series ( _Young Wizards_ ) -both fantastic and highly recommended- and my writing has suffered a bit the past two weeks), the more I start to think there's actually probably only going to be twelve chapters. I had planned for 14 originally but the story is coming together faster than I'd thought it would. And I've seen too many stories/movies/shows/etc that were ruined because the creators didn't go with the evolving story line or characters and tried too hard to stick to preconceived ideas and ruined it (I'm looking at you _Harry Potter_ and _How I Met Your Mother_ ), so I'm just going to go where my story takes me.

Leave a review! They make my day! (You know I used to say 'send me a smile' and I'm not sure why I ever stopped, because they _still_ make me smile haha)

P.S. Sorry I ramble so much.


	9. Chapter 9

Here's chapter 9! Only three chapters left!

 **Author's Note:**

So it's my birthday today and I'm giving you all the present and uploading chapter nine. I mean, I would have uploaded it anyways, but it's just a bonus that it's my birthday today haha.

-insert standard disclaimer about typos here- Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

* * *

 _ **2015**_

Danny steps out the portal, hands clenched into fists and raised to his chest, two ghost rays ready to go. He's certain he's going to finally find Clockwork and Sam waiting for him on the other side of the portal (Skulktech 9.9's words and left little doubt in Danny's mind that here, _finally_ , he was at the end of his adventure) and even though the time ghost may have had good intentions, (Danny's still not entirely sure) that doesn't mean he wouldn't mind punching him once or twice. For therapeutic reasons obviously.

What he doesn't expect is... _nothing_.

Not nothing in the sense that Danny can't see a trace of Sam or Clockwork among all the residents of the year 2015. Not even nothing in the sense that Danny can't find a trace of his future self or Sam's future self or literally anyone he know's future self. It's nothing, like a literal nothing. He's in what looks like a park. Or what's left a park. He's standing next to a large dead tree, but it seems to be the only thing still standing anywhere around him. And it's dead, just like everything else.

Danny has never wanted anything as badly as he wants for Sam to not be here; here in this dead, decaying, and depressing future. Even if it means that he was to keep looking for her, he doesn't want her to have to see this, to see what Amity has become. Not when she fights so hard to keep things alive and free.

He dispels his ghost rays and takes a few steps forward, moving around the trunk of the dead tree. His boots crunch on the dead grass beneath his feet and he winces. "What could have done this?" He wonders out loud.

But the sound of the grass crumbling beneath his boots is the only answer he gets.

He takes another few steps forward and gasps at the sight that greets him. It's Amity Park, the only sign of life for miles around, and it's all tucked safely underneath a blue force field. One that looks a lot like the Fenton Ghost Shield.

"A ghost did this." Danny's eyes sweep across the landscape, trying to find any sign of life outside of the small part of town that's been actively protected, but he can't find anything. "A ghost did this and I didn't stop...or I _couldn't_ stop it. But what ghost would do this? All the ghosts I've ever fought before have just wanted to take over the world." He takes a tentative step forward, not sure if he wants to get closer to his home or turn and run as far away as he possibly can. "But there's not much of a world to rule if it's all gone."

His expression becomes determined and this time when he steps forward, it's with a purpose. "I'll just have to get in the ghost shield and find Sam or Tucker or someone. I'll find out what happened and make sure that when Sam and I get back to the present, we don't let it happen again." He shakes his head. "I promised to use my powers to protect people to prevent something like this from happening. And that's a promise I intend to keep."

Before he can take another step forward, however, an earsplitting wail breaks through the silence and Danny has no choice but to slap his hands to his ears and try to block out the sound. It's a horrible, low pitched sound that surges through his body in a way that's actually extremely painful. He falls to his knees, trying to fight off the pain and scans the skies, trying to find the source of the noise. It's nothing human, he's sure of that. But it's nothing he's ever heard from a ghost before. Even Ember's music, painful as it had been, couldn't compare to this. His gaze is drawn back to the ghost shield over the town and his eyes widen in horror as it starts to flicker in and out of existence before finally disappearing completely.

"No!" Danny cries out in horror. "Without that shield...whatever did this will just be able to get in and finish what it started!"

He tries to push himself to his feet, trying to get to the town and fight off whatever had created that noise, but he can't move. He feels frozen, trapped on his knees as he watches the panicked citizens running for cover. Or at least that's what he assumes; he's too far away to see much of anything clearly. He can feel himself starting to relax, his muscles loosening and his hands fall away from his ears, but he still gives himself a few minutes to try and get himself back in working order.

Honestly, it's probably a good thing that he can't move. Because he obviously wasn't strong enough to beat whatever it was that did this the first time, so chances are he won't be able to do it now either. It's in his best interest, however much his entire being is screaming at him to fly into the fray and take down whatever is causing all the chaos, to wait; sneak in unnoticed and find someone who can tell him what he's missed over the past ten years.

So, as much as he hates it, he rises shakily to his feet and prepares to watch from a distance until he can find a safe time to sneak in.

At least, that's his plan until something hits him from behind and he goes down with an undignified shriek and finds himself flat on his face with some kind of ecto-bonds trapping his arms to his side. He lifts his head from the ground and spits out an unpleasantly large helping of dead grass and dirt from his mouth. So much for sneaking in and out quietly. He resigns himself for the fight that is undoubtedly going to take place now when he's startled by a very familiar sounding gasp and an even more familiar voice.

"You!"

Danny finds himself being yanked up unceremoniously by the back of his collar before being flipped and over and slammed back into the ground.

"Ow!" He looks up at his manhandler and he's only marginally surprised at who he finds glaring angrily at him. "Valerie! Nice, uh, buzz cut?"

"Shut up!" Valerie growls, pointing a small ecto-gun at Danny's chest. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you dead here and now, _Fenton_."

Danny's eyes widen. "You-you _knew_! How-how long have you known? _How_ did you even find out?"

"How did I-?" She barks out a laugh. "I know because _you_ told me. Right before you knocked me out. I thought you were going to kill me for sure." She shakes her head.

"I told you?" Danny can't figure out what Valerie is talking about, but he doesn't have time for that. He's got more pressing matters and the Ghost Hunter is actually one of the better people he could have run into to help him with it. "Look, I don't really understand what's going on, but look around us! I've only been fighting ghosts for a few months, but I'm pretty sure this wasn't done by a human."

"Of course it wasn't!" Valerie snaps. "No human would do this to their own home!"

"Well, I know you don't actually think so, but I've been working my butt off to protect my home from ghosts. I don't know what went wrong in the fight with the ghost who did _this_ ," He jerks his head back towards what's left of Amity Park, since his hands are currently trapped at his sides and he can't gesture with them, "but if you tell me, I can go back to my own time and make sure it doesn't happen!"

Valerie laughs again, short and sounding anything but amused. " _You_? Prevent this? You're the ghost who _caused_ this." She jabs the hand that's holding the ecto-gun at the destruction that's around them before quickly training it on Danny once more. "What makes you think I'd tell you anything?!"

But Danny hasn't registered her last comment. His eyes are wide and it kind of feels like the ground is falling out from underneath him as he tries to digest what she's just told. He's the one who did this? Amity Park has been brought to its knees because of _him._ "I-" Danny shakes his head, trying to make sense of everything. "I would _never_! I've been protecting the city, Valerie, including you! Why would I...why would I do this?"

He's not sure if she sees the distress playing across his face or if he hears it in the way his voice breaks a little as he pleads with her to understand, to believe him, but she lowers her weapon and kneels down to help him into a sitting position. She doesn't release him from his bonds, but he knows that coming from Valerie, especially a version of her who's apparently spent the last ten years fighting a version of him that's capable of this kind of ultimate destruction, that the act of helping him sit up is probably as close to a sign of trust as he's ever going to get.

"Please," he begs, not even ashamed of the way his head hangs, "just tell me what happened."

"It's kind of a long story." Valerie tells him as she sighs and rocks back on her heels, standing up once again. She doesn't put her gun away, but she does keep it pointed safely at the ground. "And, honestly, I'm not sure I understand all of it." She frowns. "I definitely don't know all of it."

"That's okay." Danny tries to reassure her, sure that what she does know will be helpful. "Just tell me what you do know."

"Fine." She concedes with a curt nod, "but first you need to tell me how you got here. You're obviously still only 14 years old..." Her face softens, just a bit, "And you've obviously still got some of Danny Fenton I used to know in you if you're worried about protecting the town."

Relief floods through Danny at her words. He and Valerie may be at odds a lot when he's in his ghost form, but she's a woman of her word and Danny will gladly tell her what she wants to know if it means she'll return the favor.

"Sure. I'm here because of this ghost, Clockwork. He took Sam and hid her somewhere in the time stream and I've been trying to find her."

He's marginally surprised to see Valerie's eyes widen and turn sad at the mention of Sam. The two girls had never gotten along particularly well as far as he knew. "That's what happened to Sam?" Her brow furrows. "He did say something like that come to think of it..."

"What happened-" He shakes his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Listen," Valerie's voice is suddenly gentle and that, more than anything else that's happened so far, catches him off guard, "Sam...I don't think you ever find Sam."

Danny's stomach drops through to the ground and, despite its sudden relocation, the halfa finds himself struggling to not throw up. "What? But-but Clockwork promised!"

Valerie shakes her head. "I don't know who this Clockwork ghost is or what he promised you, but ten years ago, my ghost sensor went off, the one that I have that's locked on to _your_ ecto-signature, and I followed it to the Nasty Burger where I found your parents and Jazz and Tucker in the kitchen, stuck to a vat of Nasty sauce. And there was this ghost I'd never seen before there and he...he turned into you. Not before he beat the pants off of me though."

"Oh no..." Danny remembers with startling clarity the conversation he, Sam, and Tucker had had right before Clockwork had shown up.

"By the time I woke up from that, everything had already happened. My dad told me that they'd all died in an explosion at the Nasty Burger and that you'd gone to live with your Uncle Vlad." She sighs and it strikes Danny that she looks absolutely exhausted. Not that he can blame her. "After that it was quiet for about a month and then...you showed up again. But you were different. More like the ghost that had killed the Fentons and Tucker. Except you weren't done growing yet or something." She shakes her head. "Even after ten years of fight ghosts, I still don't really understand much about how they work."

"That's because you never stop to ask questions."

Valerie chuckles. "Maybe you're right. But stopping to ask questions isn't a luxury I could have afforded in the past ten years. Even if I wanted to." She sighs again. "The point is, you terrorized the town and we kept you at bay but I could never beat you and then one day you disappeared for a few years and when you showed back up you were completely that ghost, calling yourself Dan Phantom, and you were destroying everything left and right. The only reason that we were even able to save what little of Amity Park that we did is because we saw you on the news, destroying other parts of the world before you returned to your roots. My dad and I had moved into Fenton Works when you first showed back up, trying to use the research your parents had been doing to find a way to stop you. But it was no use. No one could stop you. The best we could do was figure out how to reinforce the Ghost Shield, make it stronger, and give it a wider range of coverage. And for years that's how we survived. Under a big blue dome like..." she clenches her fists, her tone angry, "like animals in a cage."

"And then..." Danny's almost afraid of the answer, but he needs to know, so that he can make sure it never happens.

"And then today happened." Valerie's eyes narrow and Danny realizes for the first time that she's actually quite a deadly foe now. Back when she was fourteen she was a good ghost hunter, but she was still new to the equipment and still blinded by a childish rage and quest for revenge. This Valerie only has a cool, calculating look in her eyes. She's not fighting for herself anymore. She's fighting for everyone else. "You've got some new power now, a ghostly wail, and it knocked out our Ghost Shield. I got Dan to chase me and I tried to lead him away from the town until Dad could get the shield back up and running."

Danny's just kind of gapping open mouthed at her. He doesn't not believe her, per se, because the proof of some kind of massively destructive force is all around him and he'd been there when the ghostly wail had sounded, watched with terrified eyes as the one thing he figured was keeping his hometown safe suddenly flickered out of view. But he's having a hard time digesting all of this because she's just kind of ripped his whole world out from under him if it is true. And as much as he doesn't want to, he can't help but believe it. Valerie has blamed him time and time again for ruining _her_ life, but she's never accused him of anything much more serious than that. Definitely nothing that reaches the levels of 'destroy the world.'

"So...I lose...everyone?"

Valerie nods. "I don't know exactly what happened, but you weren't there when I went to go fight the ghost at the Nasty Burger, and you're _always_ there so I can only guess you were off trying to find Sam. But you don't find her."

"And when I come back empty handed and find Tucker and my family gone I..."

The ghost hunter shrugs and gives him what he thinks might a sympathetic look for the first time ever, at least as far as his ghost half is concerned. "I think you might have just snapped. Which doesn't excuse what you do. But at least it explains it, I guess."

Danny looks down at his medallion. "So I go back and save them. And then this horrible future version of me doesn't exist and everything works out okay!" And then he suddenly looks terrified. "But I go back to save them...I won't be able to come back and look for Sam."

"Why not?"

The halfa sighs. "I don't know exactly how all this time travel stuff works, but apparently after I get the medallion to bring my back to my present, it stops working. If I go home without Sam now, I go home without her for good."

"Oh...Danny." Valerie's tone and expression are definitely sympathetic now.

"So I guess I'm supposed to choose between saving Sam and saving my family and Tucker." Danny's indecision is written all over his face. "I know the decision should be easy but..."

"I forgot about that too." Valerie chuckles lightly, "about the way you used to care so completely for Sam. Used to make me wonder if you could care for any other girl even half that much."

Danny can feel himself blush, which is an interesting experience in his ghost form, because his cheeks take on decidedly green hue and it just makes Valerie chuckle again. "I, uh, Sam's just very...She's Sam. And I guess that doesn't really explain anything to anyone, but it explains _everything_ to me. And I..." He hangs his head, his entire posture utterly defeated. "I know that I have to give her up. For my family. And for Tucker." He can feel his pain and frustration building up in his throat and all he wants to do is scream at the unfairness of it all. But he can't, because he's the hero and he's got a job to do. "It just isn't fair!" He whispers angrily. "Sam was supposed to be here. This was supposed to be the end of treasure hunt!"

"I'm sorry, Danny." And Valerie really sounds like she means it, especially when she hits a button on her gun and the bonds around his arms disappear. "But go, go and save the other important people in your life. I'll keep an eye out for Sam and if she's here...I'll keep her safe."

"Thank you." He tells her sincerely, standing up and rubbing his wrists. "For telling me everything and letting me go. Can I ask you a question?"

The ghost hunter smiles softly at him, and this is what Danny has always wanted, Valerie looking at him like he's an ally, not an enemy. "What was that other thing you forgot?"

"Huh?" She looks at him in confusion before realization washes over her face. "I'd forgotten how cute you used to be." He blushes at her words and she grins and rolls her eyes before turning serious. "Now go! Before the _other_ Phantom shows up. Frankly I'm surprised it's taking him this long."

Danny nods in determination. He knows there's going to be plenty of time to mourn the loss of Sam, or maybe look for another way to get her back, but first he's got to concentrate on saving his family and making sure that the him that did these terrible things never exists. Although, this does explain the disturbing existence of Skulktech 9.9.

"I will. And I promise...I am never going to become that Danny that you know. Not ever."

"I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with you there."

Valerie gasps and whirls around, her gun already pointed at where a second ghostly figure quickly makes himself known. Danny's eyes widen in shock at the sight of the ghost before him. He's got the same emblem as Danny does now, but nothing else about him is the same.

"How do I become _this_?" Danny shakes his head, hands already lighting up with a ghost ray as he rises to float up at eye level with his other self. "I mean, I know how technically. But a cape? Seriously?"

"Well," His future self doesn't even seem bothered by Danny's threat, which just makes the teen angrier. "I'll admit, the details of the second time around are a little fuzzy. And I like the cape." And then he sends a ghost ray at Valerie, knocking her to the ground, then reaches forward and yanks the medallion off of Danny's neck.

It's literally the last thing Danny had been expecting, and he falls to the ground out of pure shock.

"What are you-" but before he can finish his question, Dan has him knocked to the ground and bound again. "Okay, this is getting ridiculous."

Dan's eyes travel briefly to where Valerie is struggling to get up before turning back to his past. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a bright future ahead of me and I'd like to take this chance to...get a jump start on it."

"What are you doing?" Danny struggles against his binds, managing to at least stand up, and this has seriously happened to him entirely too much in the last twenty four hours.

"I just told you." His hand glows green and his energy seeps into the clock. The numbers on the screens spin wildly before landing on 2005 and he hits the gold button, grinning in triumph as the portal opens before. "I'm getting a jump start on our future."

"No!" Danny cries, frantic as his future self takes a step towards the portal. "No, no, no, no, no _no_ no _no_ no _no_ no _no_ no _NO_!"

His cries get more frantic and he feels something like that pain and frustration from before, this time multiplied tenfold by sheer panic, building up in his throat again and this time he doesn't bother trying to suppress his cries of outrage.

" _NO!_ "

To his surprise, his last cry is not just a cry, but a wail that is accompanied by rings of glowing green energy and he can feel the lump in his throat slowly shrinking, as if it's attached to whatever is happening, leaking out into the atmosphere as he screams. It's the same wail he'd heard earlier, just before the ghost shield had disappeared and as much he wants to stop it, he can't. Beside him, Valerie claps her hands to her ears, wincing in pain at the noise.

It's too late to be of any help, however, because Dan Phantom is in the portal and gone from view before the first blast of energy has a chance to leave Danny's throat.

Exhausted, Danny collapses to his knees, just barely able to keep himself from transforming back into Danny Fenton. Valerie carefully uncovers her ears, obviously checking to make sure no part of ghostly wail is still lingering.

"How-" She blinks at him in shock. "How is that possible? You didn't learn that attack for ten years!"

"Well," Danny shakes his head, trying to gather his bearings again, "I guess the future isn't as set in stone as _that_ Danny would like to believe."

Valerie kneels next to him, examining the binding holding him captive. "I...I don't know how to get rid of these." She admits.

"It's okay," Danny tells her. "I'll figure a way out of this. You go back to Amity Park and help your dad get the Ghost Shield back up and running."

"But what about you?" She asks, although she's already tapping her heels together and her hover board unfolds into existence beneath her feet.

"I'll be fine." He assures her. "This is...probably not the worst thing I've ever faced."

She casts him a worried look before nodding and taking to the skies. "I'll be back as soon as I can." She promises before disappearing into the distance.

"Okay..." Danny stops struggling and sinks down to fully sit on the ground. "Now to come up with a brilliant plan to get out of this." He sighs. "Should be a piece of cake..."

* * *

 _to be continued..._

* * *

Well, there's chapter nine. I hope you guys enjoyed. Leave a review and let me know what you think!


	10. Chapter 10

Yay! Here's chapter ten! Only two more to go after this.

 **Author's Note:**

I am so incredibly sorry this took so long to upload. I wish I had a legitimate excuse, but honestly, I got _Fallout 4_ the other day and everything else has taken a back seat (including my social life and my sleep schedule). I promise you will not have to ever wait a ridiculously long time between updates though. I wouldn't do that to you guys.

Also, there's going to be three version of Danny appearing in the this chapter and the next so to avoid confusion (although for the most part I specify-particularly with older human Danny), Dan is 24 year old ghost hybrid Danny, Danny Phantom is 14 year old Danny, and Danny Fenton is 24 year old human Danny. Hopefully it doesn't get too confusing!

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. It means the world to know you guys are sticking with me!

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

* * *

 ** _2015_**

"This..." Sam eyes the dead and dreary landscape around her, "is not exactly what I was expecting."

"The future rarely is." Clockwork informs her.

Sam shakes her head. "It's bigger than that." She turns in a complete circle, taking in all the dead trees and grass around her, the small bit of Amity that she can see in the distance that's protected by what looks like a blue Ghost Shield. "I'm the first person that will fight to protect Mother Nature, but there's no way humans could have done _this_. Not in ten years. Not without some kind of nuclear war or something."

Clockwork is silent and so is Tucker, but his silence is thicker, like he's trying to hide something in it. She'd always been good at reading her friends like that and death and ten years have apparently done little to change that. She turns to where her friend is setting what's left of Danny Fenton onto the ground where the older human immediately tries to curl up into himself again. He'd been using his powers to keep the 24 year old floating next to him as they'd traveled from the Ghost Zone to what's left of Amity Park.

"Humans _didn't_ do this, did they?"

Clockwork remains silent, but Tucker shakes his head. "No. Dan Phantom did this."

The Goth girl turns back to look at her surroundings in shock. She leans down and picks up a single leaf, brown and withered with age and watches sadly as it crumbles to pieces with the slight trembling of her arm. "I can't believe. I mean, I know you said Dan Phantom had the obsession of destroying the world but I...I guess I never thought he'd actually be able to do it. Even without Danny Phantom there to stop him."

Tucker shrugs, coming to stand beside her as they both look out towards Amity Park. "It's kind of hard to explain, but Phantom and Plasmius were both a lot more powerful than other ghosts. Most other ghosts." Tucker amends, thinking of Pariah Dark and the battle that nearly took their friend away from them. "I think it must have had something to do with their ties to the human world. Or maybe the fact that they weren't created naturally. I could never figure out which. But I do know that they were definitely more powerful than even strongest ghosts. Mostly." He sighs. "And splitting them from their human halves didn't lessen that power. So when they joined together..."

"They created a ghost that would have brought even the Ghost King to his knees." Sam finishes grimly.

Tucker nods. "Even without the Ecto-Skeleton. I slipped in and out of the Fenton Portal when I could for a while and Valerie tried to take over ghost hunting duties, she even did okay, but she...she was never going to be a match for this ghost hybrid." His shoulders slump. "After the ghost shield went up around the town, I had to stop leaving the Ghost Zone. It was too risky. I don't even know if my parents are okay..."

Sam places a comforting hand on his shoulder, ignoring the cold that seeps into her skin at the contact. "I'm sure they are. Valerie would have made sure they were protected. My parents too." She smiles. "We don't always see eye-to-eye, but she's a good person and I know she'd do that for us."

Clockwork glances down at the clock in his chest and turns to face the two teens. "Listen, I realize that this future is far from perfect. And that's why we're here to correct it. But now is the time to stay silent and out of sight. Everyone has their parts to play-"

"I knew there was a reason you were letting Tucker come along!" Sam cries in triumph.

The ghost of time shoots her a glare and she clamps a hand over her mouth, trying her best to cooperate. She doesn't like this ghost, but she likes this future even less and if he says they're on the same side, she's willing to give him the benefit of the doubt...for now.

"Yes. As the ghost of time, I knew how this would play out from the start. Why do you think I've put up with all of your sarcasm and screaming and anger? Not for my own amusement, I assure you. Now, no matter what, you will do as you're told and stay silent and out of sight until it's time for you to be otherwise. Is that clear?" He's speaking to both Tucker and Sam now, and they nod obediently.

"Good." He motions for them to go behind a fallen tree trunk and they go and stand behind it, Tucker having to drag the unresponsive human Danny with him. He places a hand on the man's shoulder and ghost and Fenton both disappear from sight. Sam feels Clockwork's hand on her shoulder and almost immediately the tingling sensation that means she's now invisible sweeps over her body.

Sam kicks at the tree trunk lightly, just to see if she's intangible too. Too her surprise, the tree trunk moves easily, probably completely rotted out and gives her a small glimpse of the earth beneath it. She smiles.

Just after they disappear from sight, a loud sound rips through the air. Sam wants to shoot Tucker a questioning look, but she knows he won't be able to see it so she bites her tongue and settles for waiting until after the drama is over to get her questions answered. There's nothing but silence for a few seconds before the sound of feet crunching over the dead grass reaches her ears as a figure comes into view from around the only standing tree left in the park.

Clockwork's free hand (free being a term Sam uses loosely because she technically does get smacked in the head with his staff) comes up to slap across her mouth. She's been angrier, if it hadn't kept the involuntary gasp she'd given silent.

Because standing not even ten feet away is Danny. _Her_ Danny; the one who'd raced through the time stream to find her. He's looking around him in horror and shock and it takes every ounce of self control that Sam has not to run to him and let him take her home. Only Clockwork's words about the other Danny, the evil one, existing outside of time keep her standing still. Tucker's made her watch enough sci-fi over the course of their friendship to know that when Clockwork said that, he'd meant that they'd have to do more than just make sure Danny doesn't cheat on a test.

But it's hard because he looks heartbroken and scared as he winces and asks himself, "What could have done this?" Even though he obviously doesn't expect to get an answer.

She feels Clockwork's grip on her shoulder tighten and she knows that he can tell what she's thinking. But she also knows that, unfortunately, all she can do for now is sit and wait.

Tucker's invisible hand reaches out and fumbles for a moment before it finds her and he gives it a reassuring squeeze. Sam has always been grateful for her other friend, but never more so than right now, when he silently reminders that she doesn't have to wait alone.

* * *

As it turns out, this is actually the worst thing has Danny has faced and no matter how much he struggles, or what power he tries to summon, he can't break the bonds that are wrapped around him.

"You know," He groans in frustration, "if I get out of this and find Sam and get everything fixed, I'm really going to enjoy this new power. But right now it's just really, _really_ annoying."

As he continues to struggle, the familiar sound of the portal opening fills the air and Dan Phantom appears before him, grinning triumphantly. "Well," He crosses his arms over his chest, his grinning widening as he watches his past self struggle, "that takes care of that."

"How did you-There's no way you could have done all that! You were barely gone five minutes!" Then he catches sight of the medallion hanging around Dan's neck. "Right. Time travel. Duh Fenton."

"Do not call us _that_!" Dan snaps, his eyes growing brighter with his rage.

"Why not?" Danny struggles to his feet. "It's who we are, after all."

Instead of getting angry, the bigger ghost just starts chuckling, lifting Danny off his feet. "Not for long. I'm going to send you back just in time to watch your world blow up right in front of your face."

"I doesn't matter what you do." Danny spits out, furious at this future version of himself, at this future in general, in the fact that he could ever become this, "Because now that I know about you, I'm going to make sure I do whatever it takes to never become you!"

This just makes Dan laugh harder. "You have no idea do you? It doesn't matter what changes you make to our future. I already exist and I will continue to exist. You can try and change your past all you want. But I am _always_ going to exist now. It's one of the...perks."

"The perks of what?" Danny continues to struggle against his binds. He's sick and tired of being left out of the loop. He just wants this whole stupid adventure to end.

"Oh my new title." Dan taps his finger thoughtfully to his chin. "Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I probably shouldn't tell you. Wouldn't want there to be two of me after all."

Danny takes the briefest second to just be absolutely annoyed at the entire situation. "I am getting _so_ sick of this. Either speak in clear sentences or shut up and let me go so I can fight you fair and square."

"There's not going to be any fighting today." Dan shakes his head. "Not from you." He presses the gold button on the medallion and the swirling portal blinks into existence behind Danny. "It's time for you to go home. Don't worry. I'll you again very soon."

"Why would even go through all of this trouble?" Danny asks desperately, partly in an attempt to stall the ghost from throwing him back into the past and partly because he's curious. "If you already exist no matter what, what does it matter what future I end up having?"

Dan's eyes flash dangerously. "Because you might be the only person who can stop me." He lifts Danny up higher and moves to throw him into the portal. "I had to make sure that I got rid of that pesky hero part of you. Just to be safe. So I say again," he smirks evilly, "goodbye, Danny Phantom."

"Stop!"

A new voice pulls Danny and Dan up short and they both blink in shock as they suddenly find themselves looking at the ghost of Tucker Foley.

"What the-Tuck!" Danny is too shocked at the sight of his best friend here, at the scene of this final showdown, to be curious about why he's posing with his hand stretched out in front of him. He wants to be shocked by the tell tale ethereal glow that radiates from his friend, but Valerie's story is still fresh in his mind. He is, however, shocked to see him outside of the Ghost Zone.

"How did you even get here?" Dan snarls, turning away from the portal to focus of the newest addition to the party.

"That's-" Tucker's eyes slide nervously from side to side before he steels himself and stares down the bigger ghost, "That's not important. All that matters is that I'm here and I'm here to help Danny defeat _you_!"

Dan's eyebrow rises skeptically and he smirks. "What are you going to do? Throw your PDA at my head?"

Tucker's eyes narrow, but he doesn't back down from the threat. He never did when it really mattered, even in life. But instead of throwing a retort back at Dan, he turns to Danny, eyes softening. "You have to make sure you don't become that, dude. No matter what. We're you're friends and we've never left you alone to fight before. And we weren't about to start now, especially not with _this_ creep."

"We?" Danny looks behind Tucker but he can't see anything but empty space. But Danny's been dealing with ghosts long enough to know better than to assume anything just because he can't see it. "Does that mean-"

Tucker shakes his head, cutting off Danny's question. "Just, please. We don't ever want you to become _that_." He jerks his head at Dan. "Or _this_."

And then he lifts his hand up and Danny's stomach nearly drops through his feet.

It's himself. His human half, looking utterly lost and broken, like he's trying to block out the entire world by wrapping his arms around his legs. And as shocking as it is to see himself like that, there's something else that jumps out at Danny. Something even bigger.

"Wait..." He looks between his very human self and the ghost holding him up. "How I am Fenton and Phantom at the same time? Please tell me we didn't use the Fenton Ghost Catcher again."

"Not quite." Dan smiles cruelly, though his gaze his locked on Danny Fenton. He throws the younger Danny to the ground and stalks towards where the older one is still huddled in on himself, starring up at the ghost in absolute terror. "I thought I'd killed you years ago." He whispers threateningly.

"Don't touch him." Tucker stands between his friend and Dan, arms spread out to cover the human more thoroughly.

"Get out of the way." Dan waves his hand dismissively at Tucker's threat before grabbing the techno geek by the front of his shirt and throwing him over his shoulder. He lands with a solid thud next to fourteen year old Danny.

"Sorry man," Tucker shakes his head as he sits up. "I'm afraid I never got any really useful ghost powers."

"It's okay, Tuck." Danny gets back to his feet, while Dan is distracted with advancing on Danny Fenton. "This was never your battle to fight. It's mine. And I may not be able to break these stupid bonds..." He can feel the anger and frustration building up in his throat again, only this time, he's summoning them. "But that doesn't mean I'm completely helpless. Cover your ears."

Tucker doesn't even ask questions; just slaps his hands over his hears and shoots his friend a reassuring smile.

"Get...AWAY!" Danny can feel the power vibrating through the air around him as he lets loose another ghostly wail. This time he's better prepared for the power drain, though it's still an exhausting task keeping the wail going.

"What the-" Dan looks back and his eyes widen in shock at the sight of the ectoplasmic rings hurdling towards him. "How...how is this possible?"

He's hit with the ghostly wail and it sends him sailing back several feet. He hits the ground with a thud, skidding back several more feet, dislodging bits of dirt and rock and a strange metal contraption. The last of Danny's ghostly wail disappears into the air, along with the bonds that had been holding him captive. He doesn't even have the energy to celebrate it properly though, too drained from his second ghostly wail in less than an hour. He collapses forward, resting his hands on his thighs as he struggles to stay upright. "Guess..." he pants at the fallen form of his enemy, "you were wrong about the future."

Then, to his horror, Dan gets back up, shaking off the bits of debris that he'd collected when he'd gone skidding.

"What?" Danny sways, trying desperately to keep upright. He shakes his head as his anger momentarily steadies him. "No." He clenches his fist. "This is not happening. I did not go through all that trouble, hurtling through the time stream, falling flat on my face and my butt more than once, trying to find my best friend only to be met with this awful future. You don't get to just get up again. This future isn't going to happen. I _promised_. And I'm not going home until you're gone and I've found Sam."

Dan grins as the advances on Danny. "You're sounding a little frantic."

"Not frantic," Danny shakes his head, " _Human_. And I'm going to make sure it stays that way."

Except, instead of unleashing another ghostly wail, which is what he'd been attempting to do, Danny finds himself collapsing to his knees, unable to keep himself upright.

Dan chuckles as he reaches where Danny is trying to get back up, kicking his younger self, sending him sprawling back to the ground. He flicks his wrist and Danny finds himself bound again. "I don't think so. All you've done is weaken yourself and you're ally." He gestures to where Tucker is struggling to rise, obviously affected by the ghostly wail, despite his attempts to block it. Another flick of his wrist and Tucker's ghost is bound the same as Danny. "I'm the one enemy you aren't going to be able to defeat. You aren't strong enough to beat me and you aren't strong enough to keep from turning into me. I'm the ultimate enemy, I'm afraid. And I've grown bored with this." He turns back to the human, twenty four year old Danny Fenton. "Time to get rid of one unexpected annoyance and then I'm sending you back to where we came from."

The older Danny Fenton just sits there, shaking in terror, his eyes glued to the ghost that's advancing on him.

"What's wrong with me?" Danny asks, turning to Tucker. "Why aren't I fighting back or running or _something_?"

Tucker sighs, giving up on his struggle against the binds that hold him. "I don't know that there's anything left in you to make you do that."

"What?" When this is over, he's seriously going to have to sit down with Clockwork or someone and figure out what the heck exactly happened.

"I've been taken care of your human half for ten years, dudes. And the only time since the split that I've seen even a hint of the old you, is when Sam got so upset about your future."

And hope flares to life in Danny's chest, because that's the second time that Tucker has mentioned their missing friends (at least, he's almost positive that the other half of the _we_ that Tucker had been talking about was referring to Sam) and he's sure that means she's close by. She's got to be.

"Sam? Then she _is_ here! Skulktech 9.9 wasn't lying!" If Danny had more energy, he'd probably be doing flips in the air or something equally ridiculous. As it is, he beams at Tucker, a tired smile, but a bright one none the less.

Tucker opens his mouth to reply, hopefully to tell Danny exactly where to find her, but before he can a different, and distinctly more feminine voice, answers the question for him.

* * *

Sam watches horrified as Dan Phantom sends her friend sprawling to the ground, binding both Danny and Tucker. Then he turns onto the helpless version of Danny Fenton that Sam is still trying to wrap her mind around and the only thing the human can do is sit and stare at the ghost that had tried to kill him nearly ten years ago as he advances to finish the job.

Something inside Sam snaps with the dead grass that crunch ominously beneath Dan's boots. She'd sat quietly while Danny had listened to Valerie explain the future to him, leaving out some of the most important parts because she had no way of knowing what exactly caused the monster that haunts them. She'd grit her teeth as Dan had come in initially and stolen Danny's time medallion, going back in time to create the ghost of her friend that she's standing next too. She'd used every ounce of self control that she possessed to stop herself from running out with Tucker to help when Dan had reappeared. But watching the future Danny Phantom advance on the helpless future Danny Fenton, chips away the last of her self control.

"I'm sorry," She whispers angrily, "but I can't stand here on the sidelines and do nothing anymore!" And she wrenches herself from where Clockwork's grasp is firmly on her shoulder.

"No," Clockwork deadpans, allowing the girl to slip easily from his grasp, "stop. Comeback."

Sam feels the chill leave her as she loses Clockwork's intangibility. There's a chill in the air that bites at her skin, different than the one she'd just been feeling, but no less ghostly in nature. Being surrounded by four ghosts is bound to drop the temperature a little bit. It doesn't register as more than a fleeting thought to the teen however, because she's busy positioning herself between Dan and the human Danny.

"That's enough!"

And surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly (Sam hasn't quite decide which yet), Dan stops short at her words. Or maybe at her sudden appearance that had accompanied them. He just kind of freezes for a second, hand outstretched towards Danny, and stares at her in shock. His mouth is even hanging open and if she hadn't heard from both Tucker and Clockwork about how evil and cruel this ghost really is, she might have giggled. As it is, she crosses her arms across her chest and glares at him.

And even though it's Dan Phantom that is staring at her, looking like he's struggling to figure out exactly who she is or how she got there, it's fourteen year old Danny's voice that reaches her first.

"Sam!"

* * *

 _to be continued..._

* * *

There's chapter ten. Let me know what you guys think!


	11. Chapter 11

Okay, here's chapter 11. This is it you guys. This is where it all goes down.

 **Author's Note:**

Ugh, you guys. I am so sorry. I seriously have no self control when it comes to this new _Fallout 4_ game. And then I was rereading _The Hunger Games_ series because I went to go see _Mockingjay Part 2_ on Friday. And on top of that I had to study for my two DANTES (which are basically like tests that I can take to opt out of taking the class, but still get the college credits for it). Good news though, I passed them both so yay! Anyways, enough rambling.

Thanks a million to everyone who reviewed. It makes my day! Also, I apologize for any typos. I tried to catch them all, but I'm sure there are some I missed.

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

* * *

 ** _2015_**

"Sam!"

"I'm okay, Danny." She reassures her friend, never taking her eyes off his future self. The other ghost is still just kind of blinking at her, obviously trying to process her sudden appearance. But that doesn't mean she's stupid enough to look away from him, because this could all be a trick to get her to let her guard down or something.

She's right in her decision to keep her eyes trained on the other ghost, because a few seconds later he seems to shake himself out of his shock and takes a step closer to her. "How did you even _get_ here?" He growls.

"I had a little help from a friend." She makes a face. "An ally." She corrects, because Clockwork may have had good intentions, but he's no friend of theirs as far as Sam is concerned. "But that doesn't matter. Not to _you_."

Dan smirks. "You're right. I'll just have to get rid of you the same way I got rid of Tucker and my family. Another small inconvenience."

Sam barks out a laugh. "How long have you known me? When I want to get in something's way, I am never just a _small inconvenience_." Just behind Dan, she can see Tucker's ghost crawling over to the metal container that had been uncovered when Danny had thrown his future self back with his newly discovered power. It takes her about ten seconds to realize that the metal thing is actually the time capsule that they'd buried this morning (ten years ago? Yesterday? Time travel had thoroughly thrown Sam off her internal schedule). She's not entirely sure what Tucker is doing rooting around inside a giant container of their old stuff, but if her friend has a plan, then Sam is more than willing to keep Dan distracted long enough to help him pull it off.

"It's funny," She continues, not particularly daunted by the way the bigger ghost is glaring at her. "That you still say things like that, considering how much you seem to hate Danny Fenton. It's not Tucker and the Fentons. It's Tucker and _my_ family. It doesn't matter how much you wanted to separate yourself from him, Danny Fenton is _always_ going to be a part of you."

Dan's eyes glow brighter and his hair seems to blaze even bigger in retaliation to her words. Sam kind of wants to laugh, because it makes her think of Hades from the Disney version of _Hercules_ , but there isn't anything funny about the ghost standing in front of her. "I've had just about enough of you." Dan tells her threateningly. "I'm going to kill you-"

"No!" Danny's panicked cry reaches them and his future self growls in frustration.

"That is _enough_ out of you!" Dan cries, turning to the fourteen year old halfa and silencing him with a smaller version of the ghostly binds that are currently wrapped around his ankles and wrists. If he takes notice of Tucker's absence he shows no sign of it and instead turns back to Sam.

"I'm going to kill you," he repeats advancing forward again, "and then I'm going to get rid of _him_ ," he jerks his head at where Danny Fenton is huddled behind Sam, "And then I'm going to finish what I started on that stupid town of pathetic humans. And when I'm done with them, I'll finish destroying the rest of the world and be able to rule the Ghost Zone and they'll be no where for the ghosts to escape to. And with all the deaths," he smirks, "they'll be even more subjects for me to rule."

"That's the thing about death." Sam tells him, backing up to where the human Danny is still huddled next to the fallen and rotting tree trunk they'd been hiding behind before. She uses her foot to nudge it over and she and Dan both look down and catch a glimpse of the green grass that's just barely started growing. "I think that the ghosts don't always understand it, because they're too blind by their obsession to really stop and see it. Because when they die, their whole world dies. But that's just it, isn't it?" She looks up from the grass to the ghostly image of her best friend's future. "It's _their_ world. Not the _whole_ world. So use your ghostly wail as much as you want. Bring as many cities to their knees as you can. But the human race is never going to give up. You're never going to actually win because humans will _never_ stop fighting back." She glares at him, her anger at the whole crappy situation flowing through her. "You used to know that better than anyone."

Dan scoffs at her sentiment, although it takes him a few seconds longer to respond than maybe it should have. "I've had more than enough of this." He sends a ghost ray towards the patch of living grass and grins in triumph has it turns black with death. "I hope you've enjoyed your time here, because it's about to come to a very abrupt end."

Instead of shrinking away in fear, which is probably the normal response to such a threat, Sam puts a hand on her hip and raises a challenging eyebrow at the ghost before her. "Go ahead a try it." She tells him simply, thinking back to Tucker's early explanation about ghosts and their obsessions.

"You're very confident for someone who's about to be destroyed."

Sam shakes her head, her gaze still challenging. "Plasmius may have been strong enough to kill Tucker and the Fentons, but I know Phantom is still in there and he would _never_ hurt me."

"Are you sure about that?" Dan asks, before his arm strikes out and he grabs Sam by her neck, lifting her off the ground and as he slowly starts squeezing the life out of her. He laughs as she gasps, struggling for air. "You used to love taking risks, I'd almost forgotten that. But I'm afraid you've come across the one risk you should never have taken."

"Some risks," She wheezes, still defying him even as what little air she has left escapes her, "are worth taking. You used to know _that_ too."

"Oh Samantha." Dan almost coos, and it's the first time he's actually said her name and then his grin turns wicked as he watches her continue to struggle to breathe. "Before you go, I just wanted to tell you…you look _so_ good in blue."

He looks surprised as the words leave his mouth, as if they've almost said themselves. Sam blinks in surprise too, because with all the excitement of the past few (hours? Days? Years?), she'd completely forgotten about Danny's joke.

"Danny?" She manages to choke out, now almost certain about the reason Clockwork had brought her here, kidnapped her in the first place.

She can just make out her Danny struggling to get up, despite his bonds, but before he can make it to his feet, Dan's grip around her neck loosens and she watches in fascination as Dan struggles with something inside himself. His eyes flash green, the same shade that she's used to seeing every time Danny transforms and Dan surprises everyone when he drops her to the ground.

"Sam..." Sam is too busy gasping for breath, filling her lungs with sweet air, to answer the ghost, but it isn't lost on her or anyone else the way the older ghost had sounded, just for a second, like _her_ Danny.

But then he shuts his eyes and when he opens them again, they're red and when he speaks again it's that same deeper voice, evil even with the confusion that's laced through it. "What is this?" He demands. "How is this even possible?"

Sam's sure he hadn't been expecting an answer. She's not sure what's going on, even a little bit, so she can't imagine that anyone else does either. Well, Clockwork does probably, but the ghost has been completely silent and invisible since this whole thing got started. And she knows that's because the answer to this problem has to come from her, from _them_ , and not from him. But when this whole thing is over, she is going to tie that stupid ghost to a chair and force the answers out of him if she has to.

And Dan doesn't get an answer, not exactly.

He gets a ghost sphere to the back of the head though.

Dan whips around, growling in anger, and narrows his eyes at where Tucker is standing by the time capsule, the old PDA he'd put into it connected to his newer ghostly one. "Guess that's just the power of Danny and Sam." He tells the ghost, answering his question. "I can't believe you could ever forget about that." He eyes the other ghost critically, gaze flickering momentarily to where Sam is kneeling on the ground behind him, still breathing heavily, but still very much alive. "In fact, I'm not entirely convinced that you have."

He presses a button his PDA and the credits of the video that she, Danny, and Tucker had made blare to life, a hologram floating just above the PDA. Her contribution to the time capsule. She stares in confusion and in front of her, even Dan blinks in shock. She'd never been sure of what plan the ghost of her friend had had in mind, but she'd certainly never expected this. Her confusion only grows as the credits cut off and the hologram video is suddenly filled with fourteen year old Tucker's face, a close up, as if he was recording himself with a handheld device.

 _"So, Sam and Danny would probably kill me if they knew I was adding this, which is why I am doing so in secret. But I'm doing this partly because Danny and Sam are the two best friends I've ever had and Amity Park wouldn't be the same without them."_

 _The scene changes and it's Danny and Sam sitting in the Nasty Burger, laughing hysterically at something._

 _"And also," Tucker's voice over continues, "a little bit because I want to be able to say I told you so when we finally get around to growing up and opening this thing." The scene changes again, flashing through different moments from earlier in the year._

 _Sam laughing breathlessly while she runs through the park, the leaves on the trees the different shades of red, orange, and brown of fall while Danny chases after her._

 _The two of them sighing in unison as they lean against their respective lockers, probably in annoyance at something that Tucker has said off camera._

 _The three of them, the angle weird and kind of high, as Sam throws an arm around each of their shoulders, bringing them close enough for what she thought was just a picture, their cheeks all squishing together._

 _Sam with Danny in a headlock, giving him a noogie that would probably have made Dash proud if it hadn't been for Danny laughing as he squirmed to try and get away._

 _Tucker sleeping peacefully, head down on his keyboard after a long night of videogame playing and the resulting shriek that comes after Danny slips his hand, cold curtsey of his ghost powers, down the back of the other boy's shirt._

 _Sam free falling from one of the warehouse roofs, and Danny flying in out of nowhere, catching her easily and bringing her safely back to the ground, a bit of practice for Danny that Tucker hadn't been quite able to participate in himself._

 _The two raven haired teens locked in an intense game of_ Monopoly _, Danny sneaking some extra hundreds from the bank when Sam isn't looking, and still losing anyways._

 _The three of them, sitting in Danny's living room, Danny and Tucker covering their eyes in terror at whatever movie is playing on TV and Sam laughing good naturedly at them._

 _Sam in the pink dress her mother had forced her into after the whole Circus Gothica adventure. Her scowl looks so deep it could be permanently etched onto her face and in the background Danny coos jokingly at her. The camera shakes as Tucker jumps backwards as his friend moves her arm forward to smack him._

 _"See, there's a lot of great things about Amity Park, you've seen all of those earlier," the voice over suddenly blares back to life as the scenes continue to shift, "but the one thing you wouldn't see, is how the greatest thing about this place is that it's given me friends like Danny and Sam. Friends who have always accepted me for who I am and stood by me. Friends who have made my life about ten thousands time more interesting than it would be otherwise –trust me, Danny and I have seen the alternative and it's dull. But you'd never see that because Danny and Sam don't think there's anything particularly exceptional about it, about them. But you can ask anyone. We might be a loser, a freak, and a techno geek, but you'll never find a happier group of kids. Even if we are sitting on the outside of the social circle. Actually Sam would probably argue that it's_ because _of that."_

 _The scene suddenly changes to Sam's fourteenth birthday. She hadn't wanted to make a big deal out of it, so the friends are just sitting in their usual booth at the_ Nasty Burger _and Sam is busy unwrapping the present that Danny has just handed her._

 _"But whatever the reason, we_ are _happy because we have each other. Because they have each other. Don't get me wrong," The scene changes and it's Tucker's face again, smirking as he speaks, "I know Danny and Sam would be sad without me. We've always worked best as a trio. But," The scene changes back to Sam's birthday, just in time for the Goth girl to reach out and hug her friend, a thank you for the gift. "I've got to admit. There's something about Danny and Sam. Of course they need me."_

 _The two teens break apart suddenly, light pink staining both their faces as the camera shakes slightly with Tucker's silent laughter. "But not nearly as much they need each other."_

The video ends, the image abruptly changing from Danny and Sam blushing to the rest of the credits of the original movie, and there's complete silence. Even Dan Phantom just seems to be frozen in place, starring into the distance, past Tucker's ghost and the hologram that is still listing the places that the teens had filmed at. Which is why the hand that falls softly onto Sam's shoulder causes her to jump. She'd been so focused on Dan's reaction to the surprise video that she'd almost forgotten about the other people.

She turns her head and gasps in surprise to find twenty four year old Danny Fenton standing shakily, his hand resting gently on her shoulder. He's by no means smiling, but his face is more relaxed than Sam has seen it since she arrived at Tucker's home in the Ghost Zone. The fear is gone, replaced not by happiness, but by a kind of certainty that Sam can't quite make anything of.

"Sam." He tells her, his voice soft from years of not being used. "It's okay."

And then he falls silent, gazing along with everyone else at the ghost that had destroyed his home, his friends, and had very nearly destroyed him. Sam follows his gaze, turning back and she wants to be more surprised to find the older ghost struggling, his hands at his temples and his mouth opening and closing like he isn't sure what he should be saying, or trying not to say exactly what he knows he will, but she can't be because Tucker has told her too much, with his words and his video and she knows now, in a way that she's always known deep down, that Danny Phantom would never be able to get rid of Danny Fenton, not really and a little thing like Vlad Plasmius could never be enough to blot that out.

"Tucker..." Dan whispers, his red eyes softening, making him look less evil, more lost. And then he turns to Sam and his eyes widen in surprise at the sight of his human half standing there, hand resting protectively on Sam's shoulder. Something like acceptance settles into those soulless red eyes and he surprises the Goth by smiling, just slightly, but kindly, although it looks a bit like it pains him to do so. "Sam..."

And then a black and white blur flies out of Dan Phantom and straight into Danny Fenton.

There's a flash of light so bright that everyone in the park, human and ghost alike, have to shield their eyes against it. When it finally disappears, Sam opens her eyes, blinking a few times, to find the ghostly form of Plasmius, _only_ Plasmius, lying on the ground before her. But she forgets about him completely as the hand that's still on her shoulder squeezes gently. She turns to face the future version of her best friend and gasps, her eyes actually welling up with happy tears. "Danny!"

Because it _is_ him. He standing tall, maybe even taller than his dad, thicker than he used to be, muscles more bulky than the lean whipcord ones he's got at fourteen. He's still got the goatee, but his hair, thought it's a bit shorter, still flops down endearingly into his shocking green eyes; eyes that are alive and dancing with mirth, but also hold a kind of power behind them that Sam knows isn't there in her Danny. Not yet.

"Hi Sammy." He says to her, smiling down at her kindly.

And she wants to be mad, because she absolutely hates to be called that and she knows that he must know that this is the _only_ situation in which he could ever get away with saying it. But she can't be, because she's entirely too happy to see him. To see this version of her Danny, this future that makes so much more sense than the pitiful and evil thing he had been. Turns out, all she can do is laugh happily as she throws her arms around his neck and try not to be too shocked that she has to kind of jump a little to reach.

* * *

Ever since Danny had realized what the problem was, thanks to Valerie's explanation and the disturbing appearance of his future self, there were a few different ways that he'd suspected this adventure could end. But watching the ghost of Tucker Foley step forward menacingly to prevent what was left of Vlad Plasmius from disappearing into thin air from the corner of his eye and watching Sam hug a much more appealing future version of himself with the rest of his eye is not one of the ways.

"I don't think so." He hears Tucker say firmly to a Plasmius that is obviously trying to get away. Even though he doesn't visibly look like he's using any kind of ghost power, something in his tone suggests to Danny that that's far from the truth.

Trusting Tucker to handle Plasmius for the moment, he focuses all of his attention on where his future self is putting Sam back on the ground and has started starring at his white gloved hands in what looks like intense concentration.

"Does it feel weird?" He asks curiously, raising to his feet and sighing in relief when the binds created by Dan disappear with a quiet 'pop'.

His future self looks up at him, shooting him the same boyish grin that he's used to seeing in pictures of himself. "A little." The older Danny admits, flexing one hand into a fist. "It's like there's the reality where it happened _this_ way and a reality where it _never_ happened at all and they're kind of colliding in my head. Weird and guaranteed to leave me with a headache." He chuckles. "But before that sinks in, want to help me take care of this guy?" He gestures to where Tucker still has Plasmius pinned in place.

"Love to." Danny agrees, stepping forward, smiling brightly at Sam as she takes several steps back, giving the two halfas plenty of room to do whatever needs to be done. "I think we have a new power that will work pretty well."

"Oh yeah," his future self grins and shoots him a wink, "That old power will work perfectly."

And then both turn to face the half entity of their former enemy, sporting identical victorious grins. Tucker gives them both a thumbs up before disappearing from sight and reappearing behind them, placing a hand on Sam and turning them both intangible. Danny feels his smirk widen and he grabs a hold of that feeling of triumph, feels it building up in his throat along with his anger at the evil that Dan had inflicted, at the knowledge that he was even capable of something like that. Then his future self holds up three fingers and silently counts down to one and they both release a ghostly wail, focusing the energy solely on where Plasmius is huddled on the ground.

The ghost lets out one short scream of pain before disintegrating into nothing. And then there's nothing left of him but the memory that's etched into the dead grass all around them.

But even that's starting to fade as the grass flickers from brown and dead to the green lusciousness that suggests years of happily thriving life.

"Danny!" Sam cries again and this time when Danny turns, he finds Sam back in view and moving quickly towards him.

"Sam!" He cries in reply and he meets her halfway, arms sliding around her waist as hers wrap around his neck.

"You're okay!" She says breathlessly, her joy at the turn of events evident in her voice and her smile.

"You mean _you're_ okay." He tells her, smiling so widely it feels like he's face might split in two. "You have no idea how many places I've looked for you. I mean, you will of course, because I'll definitely be telling you and Tucker all about it." He shakes his head at his own almost rambling and just smiles some more. "The point is that I'm glad you're safe. And that I promise to _never_ become that... _thing_. Not ever, Sam."

"I know." His friend tells him seriously, smiling back at him. "I already know."

"It's a shame," Tucker's voice breaks them out their own little world and they turn to see the image of their friend flickering, "That I couldn't have added this moment to that video. Would have been the perfect ending." He snickers before waving to them. "I'd say I'll see you later, but I don't think I will. Not like this at least."

And then he disappears from view before either Danny or Sam can say goodbye.

Future Danny turns to them, smirking not unkindly, at the fact that they're still locked in an embrace. "Now what?" He asks. "Clockwork's medallion disappeared along with Plasmius."

Sam's eyes widen in surprise, as do Danny's. With all the excitement of the past several minutes, both teens had almost completely forgotten about the ghost that had started this whole thing. They break apart from their hug and both look around for any sign of the ghost.

"I don't think that will be a problem." Clockwork appears beside them, grinning. "As the master of time, _I_ don't need a medallion. And neither do the people I open portals for." He waves his staff and swirling blue portal opens up before them. "You're friends and family are no longer in danger, but I'm sure they are wondering what has become of the two of you."

"Hey wait a minute!" Danny's narrow in frustration. "You owe me some answers after all the stuff you made me go through. You could have just _told_ me that an evil version of my future self was running amok. You didn't need to go and kidnap Sam just to get my attention!"

Clockwork and his future self share a look that Danny can't quite decipher before Clockwork chuckles and gestures to the portal. "Perhaps you're right. But right now it would be best if you went home." At Danny's skeptical face the ghost shakes his head. "I promise, Ghost Child, you will get your answers. In time."

Danny groans, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Whatever. I guess I can always find you in the Ghost Zone later."

He turns to Sam, holding out a hand and grinning. "Ready to go home?"

"Oh," The word tumbles past her lips attached to an exhausted laugh as she slips her hand into his, "You have _no_ idea."

Then the two teens share another smile and step into the portal, headed back to the present and thoroughly looking forward to the future.

There's silence for a few seconds after the portal closes before...

"He wasn't kidding. He'll go banging down your door answers. That stupid treasure hunt drove me _nuts_!"

* * *

 _to be continued..._

* * *

And here's chapter 11! Everything is resolved and now all that remains are some loose ends to tie up. And boy does Clockwork have some explaining to do! Promise I'll get to all of that in the last chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

And here's the last chapter!

 **Author's Notes:**

So, because you guys have been so freaking amazing and sticking with me even though these past couple weeks I've been slacking in the updating when I'm supposed to department (I'm so sorry again. I have the attention span of a gnat), you're getting this chapter now. Nice and early. It's the end. At least of this part of the story. In my head (and my heart) real stories don't ever end. Even death can't stop the story of a boy who's half ghost. But this is the end of my contribution to the story.

So enjoy! Please excuse any typos!

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

* * *

 ** _Present_**

"And now," Dan lifts the medallion and dangles it tauntingly in front of Jazz and Tucker; "I'd better go and fetch your precious _Danny_. I wouldn't want him to miss the show. But before I go," He smiles wickedly and pushes over the fry cooker that's resting next to the vat they're tied to. He reaches into it and pulls out the metal coil that rests at the bottom, the one that heats up the grease, and places it against the metal vat, "I have to thank you for the idea, Tucker. It was quite an...explosive one."

"What is he talking about?" Jazz looks at the techno geek quizzically.

Tucker watches in horror as Dan hits the on switch on the fryer and the coil immediately begins to turn to a bright red, obviously heating up the way it's supposed to. "He's talking about the Nasty Sauce! If you overheat it...it explodes!"

Jazz's eyes widen in horror. "You told him that!"

The teen shakes his head frantically. "No. I told Danny _Fenton_..."

Tucker's voice trails off as Dan Phantom flickers in and out of existence a few times before disappearing completely. Beside him, Jazz raises an eyebrow in confusion. "Um...what just happened?"

Before Tucker can answer her, however, the ghostly binds that had been holding them to the vat of Nasty Sauce disappear and they drop the ground, the older Fenton's dropping to the ground beside them. Neither Maddie nor Jack are wake, however, apparently still out cold from whatever Dan had done to them earlier. Without hesitation, Tucker hits the power button on the fryer, shutting it down and then kicking the metal coil as far away from the Nasty sauce as he possibly can.

"I have no idea." He admits, finally taking a second to look around. "But who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth."

A groan from behind them causes both teens to whip around, shoulders tense. They relax visibly as they realize that the source of the sound is only Maddie and Jack, both of them starting to wake up. They both sit up, rubbing their heads and looking around them in confusion.

"How did we get here?" Maddie asks, turning and blinking at her daughter and her son's best friend in confusion. "And what in the world are you two doing here?"

Tucker and Jazz both share a glance, understanding passing between the two teens before Jazz turns back to face her parents. "There was a ghost." She explains quickly. "And he kidnapped you."

"Because you're such formidable ghost hunters." Tucker interjects quickly before they can wonder too much about it.

"Right." Jazz nods along eagerly in agreement. "And so Tucker and I ran after him –and you- to save you. But then you started to wake up and I guess the ghost got scared because he took off."

"Darn right!" Jack says victoriously, even as wobbles as he stands and helps his wife do the same. "Bet that spook will think twice before coming back here!"

"I sure hope so." Tucker mutters under his breath and beside him, Jazz quickly nods her agreement.

"Well..." Maddie looks around, still a bit suspicious. "I suppose no harm done then." She places her hand to her forehead. "Aside from this splitting headache."

Jazz moves to stand beside her parents, nudging them gently in the direction of the exit. "Which is why you two should go home and rest. Come on. I'll make you guys some tea and you can relax."

The teen throws a quick wink at Tucker over her shoulder as she steers her parents out of the building. Tucker nods in reply, obviously understanding her message. She'll handle the Fentons and trust Tucker to take care of the damage control here. There isn't really much damage control to do though. The fryer is tipped over, but aside from that the restaurant is more or less how it's always been. So as long as he can get out of here without being seen, no one should ask any questions. At least not to him.

He exits the building as swiftly as possible and is pleased to see that Jazz has already gotten her parents far enough away from the _Nasty Burger_ that he can no longer see them. He's less pleased to see Valerie riding up on her hover board, her red ghost hunting suit a stark contrast against the cheery blue sky.

"Fantastic." He mutters to himself, but he stands his ground, ready send the ghost hunter away while giving her as little information as possible.

"Where is he?" Valerie demands, pulling up to a stop, hovering over Tucker and looking around. "I know he's here somewhere!"

Tucker sighs and rolls his eyes, shoving his hands in his pockets as he answers her. "He was here." He confirms, because he knows Valerie isn't stupid. Her technology wouldn't have led her here if there hadn't been a ghost, and she knows it. "But he's not anymore."

"And he never will be."

Tucker perks up as a third voice speaks up from behind him. He turns, smiling widely as Danny and Sam both come strolling casually around the corner and into view. "Dude! And you found Sam!"

Sam raises an eyebrow and gestures subtly to Valerie. "Yep. That game of hide and seek got pretty intense, but Danny found me."

"Hide and seek?" Valerie doesn't even bother to try and hide her disgust. "What are you? _Five_?"

"Maybe." Sam challenges, crossing her arms over her chest. "What's it to you? You don't even know us."

"Uh..." This trips Valerie up and even though the other three teens can't see her scrambling to come up with an excuse, they all know that she is. "Whatever." She finally settles on and they don't need to see her face to know that she's glaring either. "If there's no ghost here then I'm so out."

And she doesn't even stay to see if they had a response.

"Okay." Tucker whirls back around to face his two friends. "What the heck happened? Because it has been a crazy afternoon here!"

"Yeah, I bet it has been. Come on." Danny waves them towards his house, "let's get home and I'll tell you guys everything. And you can tell me exactly what happened here. Although I think I have pretty good idea."

"You do?" Tucker's eyes widen. "Because your-"

"Evil future self came to the past and tried to kill you and my family?"

"Uh...yeah. He-"

"Bound you guys to the Nasty Sauce vat and tried to get it to overheat so it would explode?"

"Yeah. Also, Jazz knows about your ghost powers, dude."

Danny and Sam both stop walking, mouths falling open in identical looks of shock. Tucker whips out his PDA and takes a quick picture because it's rare to every catch Sam off guard like that.

"That..." Danny springs back to life, continuing his walk towards his home, "I did not know."

Tucker nods. "I didn't know either until this afternoon when she tried to help me take out your evil future self. You should really talk to her. Also, what the heck is up with the whole evil thing? And the cape, dude. I mean, seriously?"

Danny runs a hand through his hair and sighs. "Yeah, you're right. I'll talk to her. As for the future thing it's long and kind of confusing. But I'll explain it as best I can when we get to my house."

"And what Danny can't explain, hopefully I can." Sam adds, linking arms with her two friends. "But for the moment, I just want to take time to enjoy the sight of good old Amity Park looking exactly the way it should be."

* * *

Tucker gapes in shock at his two friends as they finish telling their side of the story. "You..." He shakes his head, trying to find a word to describe what he's thinking. "Wow." He finally settles on, because there really aren't words to describe what you feel after hearing a story like that.

"No kidding." Danny chuckles. "But all's well that ends well, I guess." He shrugs.

"But wait..." Tucker tilts his head, considering something. "Why did Dan just disappear like that in the present? If you didn't defeat him until after he'd come back from trying to kill us...wouldn't he have had to leave the present for you to do that."

Danny and Sam share a look before the Goth girl shrugs. "Honestly, Tuck, it's time travel. It gives me a headache even when I don't stop to try and make sense of it."

"Good enough for me." Tucker kicks up his feet up, resting them on Danny's desk, leaning back in the chair and grinning happily. "As long as I'm not the newest secret ingredient in the Nasty Sauce, time travel can be as confusing as it wants."

Danny nods. "I agree. And now that I know the original reason that I ended up evil, I'm going to make sure it doesn't ever happen. I'm not _ever_ going to be that horrible thing. And I'm not going to let you guys get hurt either."

Tucker shrugs. "We knew the risks when we signed up, dude. I know you'll try to protect us, but you have to be okay with that idea that one day...you might not be able too."

"Guys…" Danny protests, but Sam cuts him off with a shake of her head.

"Tucker's right." She smiles gently at her friend. Knowing what she knows now, she realizes how hard of an idea that's going to be for him to swallow. "So just promise to try. And promise that if there ever comes a time when you can't, you'll remember that all of your feelings, even the bad ones, are what make you human –make you Danny- and that you can't ever give them up.

"And then come find us in the Ghost Zone." Sam and Tucker both grin at Danny as the other boy blinks in shock at the matter of fact way they can talk about this.

He shakes his head, but he smiles because he seriously has to have two of the best friends in the world. Tucker's video definitely got that right. "Okay. I promise. Now," He stands and tries not to look too nervous, "I'm going to go find Jazz." With that he exits his room, leaving his two friends to their own devices.

"I can't believe she knew this whole time." Sam shakes her head in amazement.

Tucker snickers. "I can't believe she was able to keep it a secret this whole time."

Sam cracks up, throwing Danny's pillow at the techno geek. "That's mean, Tucker. Not completely untrue though." Her laughter slips into silence and she smiles. "But another person on Danny's side can only be a good thing."

"As long as she doesn't try and meddle too much."

And then both teens, as familiar with red head's personality as they are with Danny's, groan in tandem.

* * *

"Hey." Danny greets Jazz as he opens the front door, going to sit on the steps besides his sister.

"Hi." Jazz greets back, smiling at the sight of her little brother as he should be and not as the weird evil freak that she'd seen earlier. "What's up?" She has a pretty good idea of what conversation is about to happen, but she decides to let Danny take the initiative, set the pace and the tone. He can tell her as much or as little as he wants to. She'll be happy to listen either way.

"Well...Tucker told me everything that happened this afternoon while I was gone."

"Yeah..." She looks thoughtful. "Where were you?"

"Uh," Danny rubs the back of his neck, a nervous habit he's had for as long as Jazz can remember. "In the time stream. Looking for Sam. And fighting that ghost that attacked you guys. But that's not important."

"Oh no?" Jazz raises an eyebrow. "I'd say finding Sam is pretty important."

Danny flushes a little at her tone of voice and she does everything she can to fight the smirk that wants to make an appearance. "It was." Danny says, trying to sound casual and failing miserably. "And I found her. What's important is that...Tucker told me everything."

"Well he should have. A situation like that...you ought to be informed."

"Jazz." Danny eyes her, looking a lot like their mother when she knows that they're lying to her. " _Everything_." He emphasizes.

The red head sighs good naturedly. "Okay. What do you want to know?"

"How long have you known?"

"Since the thing with Spectra."

Danny's eyes widen comically because that was almost a month and a half ago. "That long? Why didn't you say anything?"

Jazz shrugs. "Because I wanted you to tell me on your own time. When you were ready to. I was proud of you for using your powers to protect people and I trusted you to tell me on your own time. I didn't mind watching carefully from the sidelines until that time came."

A lot of Danny's good luck in the past several weeks suddenly starts to make sense. "You've been covering for me, haven't you?"

His sister nods. "Yeah. With mom and dad. And Mr. Lancer when I could. You were doing all this good and I just wanted to help in any way that I could."

"Well," Danny squirms a bit; embarrassed by the touching sibling moment they're having in the way that all fourteen year old boys can be, "thanks. For everything."

Jazz smiles gently. "And thank you, little- Danny. For everything."

The two siblings hug and it surprises Danny, how freeing it feels to know that just one other person knows his secret and doesn't care. Is rooting for him even. Jazz has a lot of annoying qualities, Danny's pretty sure it comes with being a big sister, but she's really not so bad. She's even kind of great.

Most of the time.

"Well," Jazz pulls back from the hug and smiles again, "I'd better go back inside and check on Mom and Dad. They're doing better, but it might be nice if I can convince to keep out of the lab for one day." She winks before standing up and heading inside.

Danny's alone just long enough to contemplate heading back inside or being lazy and keeping his butt parked exactly where it is when the debate is settled for him by Sam peeking her head out the front door and smiling as her eyes land on him.

"I heard Jazz talking to your parents. Figured I'd come out here and see how it went." She says by way of explanation as she takes a seat next to him on the steps. "It didn't take very long."

Danny shrugs. "All the important stuff has been said. I'm sure she'll hound me later for the rest of the details. Right now I think she's just trying to give me a chance to recover from our latest adventure."

"Considering what Tucker told us, I think she might need a chance to recover from it too."

Danny nods in agreement. "I think we all probably could." He rubs his eyes and sighs tired. "That was more adventure than I was prepared for, honestly. I didn't think anything could take more out of me than Pariah Dark, but this might actually have beaten it."

Sam turns to look up at the sky and Danny takes the opportunity to sneak a look at her. It's the first time she's been truly relaxed since they got back to the present and he's glad to see it.

"At least you have a cool new power." Sam says after a beat of silence.

"Yeah," Danny chuckles, "One that I can barely use. It's still way too draining."

It's Sam's turn to shrug as she turns back to face her friend. "Well, right now it is. But you'll work on it and you'll get stronger and pretty soon you'll be able to use it like you do your ghost ray. It's just one more thing to look forward to the in the future."

"As long as it's not the future that we saw, I'll look forward to whatever happens in it."

"It won't be." Sam shakes her head. "I know you Danny and I know you'll never let that happen. I mean, come on, you traveled through the time stream and ended up face to face with a pretty scary future just to find me. There's no one way someone like that could ever be evil. And you weren't, deep down, it was Plasmius that was. You were just...unfortunately along for the ride."

The halfa smiles at her words. Sam always seems to know just what he needs to hear. "I think I like looking at it that way."

"Thank you, by the way."

"Huh?"

Sam smiles gently at him. "For saving me. In all the craziness I never got a chance to thank you for jumping into the time stream and coming to find me. I mean, I know it ended up being about so much more than finding me, but still. Thank you."

Danny shakes his head. "You don't need to thank me, Sam. I'm _always_ going to come save you." He can feel his cheeks heat up at his next admission but he forces the words out anyways, because if he's learned anything at all, it's that they're true, with or without any romantic connotations that could be attached to them. "You're one of the most important people in my life."

Sam just sits and watches him silently, knowing that he's got more to say and that it's easiest for him to just say it without interruption. And he seriously owes her a salad and milkshake at the _Nasty Burger_ for being so awesome. "Future Valerie told me the reason Tucker and my family died is because I wasn't there to save them. Because I was looking for you. And before Dan did whatever it was he did to the medallion, it was a one way deal. If I went back to save them, I couldn't use it to come back and find you. And, well you were there so you know that I was going to go back and find them before Dan showed back up, but I...Sam, I honestly considered staying and looking for you instead. I didn't even realize just how much you meant to me until this whole thing and I...well, you're my best friend Sam. And I never want to lose you."

The Goth blushes prettily at his words. "And you never will." And then, much to Danny's surprise (there's a pattern to these moments, he blushes, she blushes, and then Tucker pops up before they get too serious), Sam smiles brightly. "But we don't have to worry about all of that right now. We're only fourteen after all."

Danny chuckles, knowing exactly what his friend is trying to say without her having to actually say it. It's one of the many perks of their...whatever this is. More than friendship, but less than something else. At least for right now. "Right." He agrees. "I mean, we have our whole futures ahead of us to figure it out. And we will."

Sam grins and bumps his shoulder with hers playfully. "Together?" She asks.

He pulls her into a one armed hug and nods his agreement. "Together."

They sit in companionable silence before: "Okay, seriously, when is Clockwork going to come and answer my questions?!"

Sam laughs so hard she almost falls off the steps.

* * *

"Okay, it's been a _week_!" Danny cries exasperatedly as he and his friends walk home from school. "When is Clockwork going to come answer my question?"

"Relax, dude." Tucker tries his best to soothe their distressed friend. "He's the master of all time, he's probably pretty busy."

"Still," Danny crosses his arms over his chest in frustration, "you'd think he could take five minutes out of his day to come explain some things to me."

"Trust me, Ghost Child," The world around the three teenagers freezes, cars stopping in the middle of the road, their drivers frozen at the wheel, other pedestrians are frozen midstep, and one dog is even frozen next to a fire hydrant, his back leg stuck up in the air, "It is going to take longer than five minutes to explain everything."

"Clockwork!" Danny is pleased to hear Sam say the other ghost's name, because it means that she and Tucker aren't frozen this time.

"Hello." The currently elderly ghosts greets them and then waves his hand to the unoccupied steps leading up to the house that they'd been walking in front of. "Perhaps you'd like to take a seat. I wasn't kidding when I said that this would take a while to explain."

Danny, Sam, and Tucker all take a seat on the steps, but it escapes no one's notice that Danny sits a bit closer to Sam than is strictly necessary. Clockwork chuckles as he does so.

"Relax, Daniel. I have no intention of removing Samantha from the time stream again. She is safe. From me at any rate." At Danny's concerned look he elaborates. "You and your friends have chosen a dangerous hobby. A good one, but a dangerous one. Surely you know that you can never guarantee their safety."

"Yeah," Danny nods his agreement though he still sounds less than thrilled about it, "I know."

"About those answers..." Tucker and Sam have been dying for an explanation just as much as Danny even if they have been more patient about waiting. Danny smiles slightly at the way Tucker easily steers the topic back to where all three teens would like it to be.

"The simplest way I can explain it to you is to start by explaining that on your 18th birthday you will cease to exist within the confines of time."

Danny and Tucker both just blink at the ghost's words, but Sam's brows furrow together as she processes what he's just said. "You said something like that before. When we were in the other Tucker's ghost lair."

Clockwork nods. "It's going to be something that happens no matter what, because of something that Daniel has already done."

"Something I've done?" Danny shakes his head. "What could I have possibly done that would cause me to exist outside of time."

"You defeated Pariah Dark." Clockwork answers simply.

"I defeated..."

Tucker's eyes widen in realization. "The Ghost King!"

Sam is the next to catch on, the power she'd seen in the future Danny's eyes suddenly making a lot more sense. "And when you defeated the Ghost King..."

"It made you the next king of the ghosts." Clockwork confirms. "But, because you're so young you haven't officially claimed the crown. And you won't be able to do so until your eighteenth birthday."

Danny eyes the other ghost skeptically. "A half human half ghost hybrid is going to be the new leader of the Ghost Zone. Something tells me that really isn't going to go over well.

Clockwork shakes his head. "On the contrary. With one foot planted firmly in both worlds, you will usher in an era of peace that stretches so far out it is beyond even my ability to see."

"Oh. My. God."

"You can see why we had to eliminate Dan Phantom." Clockwork says after several seconds of silence where all three teens just gap at him in amazement. "And why we needed a more elaborate plan to do so. He'd already claimed the throne in the original timeline, already existed outside the constraints of time, so going back and simply finishing you off or making sure that you didn't become him was never going to work. And besides, to destroy Danny _Phantom_ , making you unable to ever claim the throne, would just have lead to a power vacuum that would have eventually destroyed both the human realm and the Ghost Zone."

"I still don't understand why you took Sam. Why couldn't you have just told me?"

"Because you needed me." Sam answers before Clockwork can. "Because Dan Phantom was too powerful when he was a combination of Plasmius and Phantom. And the only way anyone was ever going to get them separated was if they did it themselves. If Phantom found something that gave him the strength to separate away from Plasmius. A reminder of why he should."

"I guess that would make you the best person for the job." Danny agrees, smiling at his friend.

"Indeed." Clockwork nods, smiling in approval of Sam's explanation. "You were always meant to find your friend, Daniel. Meant to watch has she saved you. But first you needed to be reminded of the importance of your humanity and how it affects your ghostly half. Which is why I sent you through the time stream like I did."

"But how can I..." Danny struggles to figure out how to ask the question he needs to ask. "How I can be sure that I won't...I don't _ever_ want to be that, that _thing_ that I was."

"You won't be." Clockwork assures him. "Because now you know that you _can_ be. And besides, just knowing about the power that you will someday hold, accepting that you will someday hold it, gives you the beginnings of the power and authority that you will have." He smirks. "I'm sure you'll find in that slowly but surely you will meet with less and less trouble from the inhabitants of the Ghost Zone. It won't ever completely stop, even after you take your rightful place on the throne, it's in the nature of ghosts to be impish and disruptive, after all. But I'm sure you'll find that by the time you're actual C.A.T comes around next year, you will have had plenty of time to study adequately. Those events shall never come to pass."

This reassures Danny somewhat, but there's something even bigger that's weighing on him now. "King of the whole Ghost Zone?"

"Yes. But don't worry. Your day to day life won't change much. Not at first. Possibly not for quite a while." He can see the hesitance in Danny's eyes, in his face, and smiles gently. "You're not meant to be ready for this yet, Daniel. There's a reason you have to wait to claim the throne properly. But rest assured, when the time comes, you _will_ be ready."

"How can you be sure?"

Clockwork spreads out his arms in a grand gesture. "I am the master of time. There isn't much I don't know. Particularly about this. It's something that has never happened before. And will never happen again. So I've been watching over it carefully since the beginning."

"The beginning?" Tucker asks. "Of what?"

"Of time."

And with that, Clockwork is gone and the street is full of movement once again.

"I can't tell." Tucker says as the three friends continue to sit and try and absorb everything that's just happened. "Is he a good guy?"

"I think..." Danny falls silent for a second, trying to figure out how to word what he feels, "I think he just _is_. But in a good way."

"So...yes?"

Sam laughs as she shakes her head and pushes herself off the stairs. "Yes. But I think sometimes it's in a way that we can't always see it."

Tucker nods, accepting this explanation and standing up as well. "Works for me. Although I still think I'll be glad if we don't see him around anymore."

"You and me both." Danny agrees as he joins his friends and they continue their trek back home. "But it's good to know that we have an ally watching over us. Even if it's mostly just from the sidelines."

"It sounds kind of creepy when you say it that way, dude."

"Duh." Sam chuckles. "He's a ghost. I think creepy is in the job description."

* * *

 ** _2009_**

 _Eighteen year old Danny Phantom shifts, still adjusting to the feel of the throne that is much bigger than he is. He's filled out some, grown more into the future version of himself that he'd always been meant to be, but Pariah Dark had been ridiculously huge, a power play that Danny has no interest in taking up for himself. He fiddles with Ring of Rage. It had been far too large when he'd put in on initially, but it had shrunken down to fit his finger almost immediately. He'd worried that it might influence him, lead him down a dark path, but he'd been assured that it was only the Ring of_ Rage _because that's what had been in Pariah Dark's heart when he'd seized control. Already, he can tell that his intentions are changing it. Making it less dark, less evil, but no less powerful._

 _"I gotta admit," He turns his head and smiles as eighteen year old Sam walks into view. "This place is pretty amazing." Her black hair is longer and hangs loosely down around her shoulders and as she grown and blossomed into a young woman, she'd unfortunately had to ditch the halter top and skirt, but had replaced them with a pair of jeans and a black peasant shirt that Danny thought suited her perfectly._

 _"I think," he holds up his hand so she can see the ring on it, "that I might change this thing's name to the Ring of Power. Makes it sound much less ominous."_

 _Sam grins, obviously pleased with the idea. "I guess it would be kind of hard to start ushering in a new age of peace with something called the Ring of Rage. What about this?" She gestures to small crown that she holds in her hand. Danny's not sure how the flames that jump off the crown don't burn her, something to do with her relationship with him, perhaps. "You going to rename this thing too?"_

 _"Nah." Danny grins as she places the Crown of Fire on his head. It grows larger, seeming to sense that Danny was not a fan of the tiny crown thing that Pariah Dark had going on. "Fire's not evil. Not if you handle it properly."_

 _"So," Sam asks as she adjusts the crown on Danny's head, "how does it feel?"_

 _Danny looks down at his white gloved hands thoughtfully. "Not that much different actually. I guess I've been growing into this power for so long that there isn't much left to do but make it official."_

 _"And move all your stuff into this really sweet castle." Sam jokes, laughing as Danny wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her onto his lap._

 _"Yeah." Danny agrees as he nuzzles her neck affectionately. "But, seriously, I'm glad this is still a part time gig. I'm really looking forward to college as Danny_ Fenton _."_

 _Sam looks around the throne room thoughtfully. It's still a little dark and dreary, but already Danny's energy is infusing the place, brightening it up a bit. "Even if we end up in Ghost Zone permanently someday," she tells him seriously, "you'll_ always _be Danny Fenton."_

 _"You're right." His eyes flash back to their normal blue as he grabs her hand, intertwining their fingers and giving them an affectionate squeeze. "Especially since I'll always have my Sam Manson."_

"And that," Clockwork says with a smile, gesturing to the image on the clock that shows the newly crowned Ghost King leaning over to kiss his fiancé gently, "is exactly how it should be."

"You mean to suggest that it was always meant to happen this way?" One Observer asks skeptically.

"Oh yes." The ghost of time informs them. "Everything went exactly as it was supposed to."

The two Observers groan in annoyance as the now baby Clockwork smirks, knowing exactly what the other ghost is going to say before he says it.

"Just like clockwork."

* * *

 _The End!_

* * *

So, that's it. The end of my contribution to Danny and Sam's story. I always felt like TUE could have been so much more than it was -not that I didn't love it all the same- (and I know at least some of that is due to the fact that they had restrictions because it was a kid show), but I wanted to try my hand at it shaping it into what it had the potential to be. It's almost ten years later and I cannot even begin to describe how amazing it felt to type out _The End!_ to finally put down on paper (or the internet, whatever) the idea that's always kind of been floating just on the edges of my creative brain space. I never could quite let it go. I loved it too much.

And I hope you guys liked it too. I will admit, in the original version of this story Sam and Danny ended up together, officially, after they got back from this adventure, making it non-compliant with canon, but after rewatching the series, I realized I loved the little almost moments too much to ruin them by getting them together earlier than usual (I will always hold a special place in my heart for the "is that _my_ shirt?" moment from _Forever Phantom_ and the entirety of _Claw of the Wild_ was just amazing. I couldn't deny my version of Danny and Sam those moments together. So I didn't.

For the most part, with the obvious exception of the small chunk of canon that I've completely rewritten, this is canon compliant and everything that happens afterwards in the series could happen afterwards of this.

And that's officially the end of my ranting. Thanks again for sticking with me and I really hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Leave a review! They make my day (:


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